Knight In Time: Return To The Great Valley
by karkovice
Summary: The sequel to "Knight In Time" where Michael and KITT return to The Great Valley to reunite with their old dinosaur friends.
1. Chapter 1 Strange Sleep Story

**CHAPTER 1**

**STRANGE SLEEP STORY**

It had been a long rich life for Michael Knight. He was like any other American kid growing up in the care free 1950s. He was a teenager by the time the tumultuous 1960s rolled around. Fresh out of high school, he was drafted into the army and shipped off to Vietnam. He was formerly discharged and sent home after being wounded in battle. A bad head shot left him with a steel plate in his head.

After he came home, he decided to become a cop. He was top of his class and soon found work with the LAPD as a detective, often doing undercover work. Back then, he was known as Michael Long.

Officer Long had his second brush with death after being shot by a criminal gang he was pursuing and left for dead. It was only thanks to the intervention of multi millionaire Wilton Knight that his life was saved. He found Officer Long just in time, and it was thanks to modern medical miracles that Michael was still alive after what happened to him.

It was then decided that Officer Long had to have his appearance altered, and he was to assume a new identity, that of Michael Knight, in order to avoid being tracked down by those same criminals who nearly killed him. By all intents and purposes, Michael Long was dead!

After Michael grew accustomed to his new face and identity, he was offered the chance of a lifetime: To be able to work for The Foundation For Law And Government, an organization founded by Wilton Knight himself, and dedicated to tracking down criminals who always escaped from the long arm of the law. It was through The Foundation that Michael Knight was able to finally catch up with the criminal gang who tried to murder him and bring them to justice.

But he didn't do it alone! He had been bonded to The Foundation's ultimate weapon in their fight against crime: A black T-top equipped with a central computer who went by the acronym of K.I.T.T., which stood for Knight Industries Two Thousand.

It wasn't long before this dynamic duo built up the reputation of always getting the job done when it came to catching the wayward villains they were assigned to go after. It was like this for nearly 10 years for Michael Knight and KITT, then things started to change.

In the early 1990s, The City of Seattle bought out 49.99% of The Foundation's assets, and incorporated the organization into it's police force. Seattle could've bought out The Foundation entirely, had Devon Miles-Wilton Knight's long time friend and holder of his estate- not insisted he retain controlling interest in The Foundation, or 50.01% of the shares. Since then, it has been an uneasy partnership.

Soon after this partnership started, KITT was decommissioned from the elite crime fighting unit, and put into a warehouse until further notice. Michael Knight quit The Foundation soon after that.

Then, in the year 2000, The City of Seattle and The Foundation For Law And Government embarked on an ambitious project to create a brand new super weapon in the fight against crime. The sleek new ultra modern car came to be known as the Knight 4000, and it would be the fastest and most powerful weapon in the Seattle Police Force's arsenal!

That year, Devon Miles convinced Michael Knight to come back to work for The Foundation following a series of crimes where banned handguns were involved. Michael Knight came back on the condition that KITT was brought back into the fray.

KITT would eventually be installed in the Knight 4000 after it was detemined that it's original CPU was riddled with problems. Eventually, Michael and KITT would find out that the whole thing was an inside job involving several of Seattle Police's finest who were in collusion with a ruthless arms dealer trading in illegal and banned firearms. In the end, though, The Foundation would end up cracking the case, and whoever was left alive would face justice from their peers.

Meanwhile, Devon Miles would die suddenly, and Seattle would end up taking full ownership of The Foundation. KITT would be a part of their crime fighting unit for a short while and then be decommissioned for good in late 2005. A short time after, Michael Knight was offered a severance package from The City of Seattle; which he took, along with KITT, and retired to his lakeside cabin in central Washington State where he would live peacefully for what he hoped would be the rest of his natural life.

This night, however, was anything but peaceful. Michael had gone to bed at around 11PM, like he usually did; only this time, his sleep would be most uneasy.

* * *

He found himself in a strange place. He didn't know where he was, at first; but after looking around at the scenery, he began remembering. This was The Great Valley! He saw that he was surrounded by several longnecks of various sizes, shapes and skin colours. They didn't seem to notice he was there. He started looking for Little Foot, Grandma, Grandpa Longneck, and others he knew; but he couldn't see them. Then he saw a puddle of water at his feet. He looked down at it and saw his own reflection. He was surprised to note that he was young again! He saw himself as being barely older than 35! After a few moments of admiring his own reflection, he saw something really odd happen.

All of the longnecks that surrounded him suddenly started floating in mid air! Then they started moving in unison in one direction towards the east! "Hey! What's happening? Where are you all going!?" he cried out to them, but nobody seemed to hear him, or wanted to answer.

Then he saw other things start floating in mid air as well: Rocks, boulders and uprooted trees. It's as if the laws of gravity were suddenly turned upside down! All of the inanimate objects then started moving in all directions. He screamed as he threw himself against the ground to avoid a giant boulder speeding towards him, narrowly missing him as he fell face first in the grass!

When he looked up again, he saw that the sky suddenly became dark with clouds! The clouds were so thick that they were blocking out the sun, or what the longnecks called the "bright circle"! "What's going on!? WHAT IS THIS!!?" he screamed, but there was nobody left to answer him.

After the bright circle was completely blocked out by the clouds, or "grey puffies", everything suddenly became dark. Then, out of the clouds, came this huge fireball; and it was hurtling itself right at him. He let out a huge scream as he futilely shielded himself against the fireball speeding down towards him.

* * *

Michael woke up with a start. He was drenched in a cold sweat and was breathing heavily. When he realized where he was, he fell back down onto his bed and breathed a huge sigh of relief. He figured it must still be the middle of the night, as it was still dark.

"Michael? Michael honey?" came the voice of a woman from his left.

The voice belonged to Bonnie Barstow Knight. She had been The Foundation's main computer and automotive technician for a number of years, and was responsible for maintaining and upgrading KITT the whole time she was there. She quit The Foundation in 1989 to go work as a research scientist at The Massachusetts institute of Technology(MIT), and worked on several US government sponsored projects.

Even though she and Michael lived on opposite sides of the continent, they still kept in touch on a regular basis. It was only until a short time after Michael had quit The Foundation for good that they met up again, and the chemistry between them began to grow. Two years later, they married; and they've been living happily ever since. Since neither of them wanted to have kids, Michael got a vasectomy a short time after they tied the knot.

"Michael, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked in a worried tone as she stroked his left shoulder. "You were screaming..."

Michael let out a breath. "I just had the weirdest dream..."

"Wanna talk about it?" She pressed.

After a few moments, he decided to confide in his wife. "It was so strange! I was back in... The Great Valley... You remember The Great Valley, don't you, dear?"

"The... place where all the talking dinosaurs lived..." Bonnie admitted. Although she only visited that magical place once, she DID remember it.

Michael nodded. "Yeah... Except that... well... I was surrounded by all of these longnecks, you see... and then they just started... floating in mid air, and moved off in an easterly direction... I saw other things floating in mid air, too; like rocks, trees and things... I had to duck to avoid one huge boulder from hitting me... Then, the sky suddenly became dark with clouds... The clouds were so thick that they blocked off the sun until it was as dark as night... Then out of the clouds came this giant fireball crashing towards me... and that was it!" He shrugged.

"You're right, Michael. That IS a strange dream!" Bonnie said after taking it all in. "It's also the exact same dream I've been having these past three nights..."

"Really?" Michael said as he looked surprisingly at her.

Bonnie nodded. "Except I didn't have a giant fireball cashing into me..."

Michael stared off at nothing in particular.

"What do you think it all means?" Bonnie asked of her mate.

"I don't know... But I do know one thing: I suddenly have this overpowering urge to return to The Great Valley..." Michael admitted.

"Me too..."

Both smiled at each other as they settled back down to sleep side by side facing each other until morning came.


	2. Chapter 2 Getting Ready

**CHAPTER 2**

**GETTING READY**

They continued having the exact same dream for two weeks straight. It wasn't only until they finally decided to put their ambitious plan into motion that the dreams stopped. They knew what they had to do!

The first part of the plan involved rebuilding the black T-top that was KITT. Michael and Bonnie had both become good mechanics, and rebuilding KITT from scratch brought back many pleasant memories! The parts they already knew how to do, they did themselves; and they hired outside help to do the more complicated parts. If anyone asked, they simply said they were "rebuilding a dream car". The parts themselves were purchased here and there in many specialty shops and junk yards. They eventually had everything they needed to rebuild what will be KITT's outer shell.

They gained possession of KITT's CPU and singular consciousness after he was decommissioned from The City of Seattle's police force. His consciousness was downloaded into a micro computer, which was kept inside their basement. Whenever they got a chance, they would turn on the computer just to say "hi" to KITT, or chat for a bit, and reminisce about old times. When Michael and Bonnie announced their plans to KITT, he expressed what could be interpreted as surprise and excitement. KITT had often complained about how the micro computer environment felt too "confining" at times, and how he wished he had a more suitable "home". Michael kept reassuring him that he would be in "familiar surrounding soon". KITT also expressed excitement at meeting up with Little Foot and his gang again when the time came.

It took them a full two months to completely rebuild the black T-top. It was the spitting image of what KITT was back in his hayday, right down to all of the gadgetry KITT used to have(including the button marked "C" that meant "convertible").

Then came the day where they would attempt to download KITT's consciousness from the micro computer into the T-top's CPU mainframe. Bonnie had set up the computer right next to the T-top, which was parked in the front yard of their home. It was one of those wireless computers that could run on both conventional electricity or battery power; therefore, no need to run an extension cord into the computer's power coupling, and Bonnie made sure the battery was fully charged.

Michael was just putting some finishing touches underneath the undercarriage of the T-top. Although his curly brown hair had long since turned grey, and he wore a moustache after Bonnie admitted that she always liked men in moustaches, he still kept himself fit. Michael had gone without a moustache most of his life. Matter of fact, the only time he ever came close to wearing one was when he bore a fake one while impersonating Wilton Knight's evil son Garth, who was the spitting image of him, during an investigation into an international terrorist plot where Garth was involved. It was a case that nearly cost Michael his life, and nearly destroyed KITT in the process! Eventually, though, they would crack the case; and Garth Knight would go to jail for the rest of his life! As far as Michael and Bonnie knew, Garth had died there long ago.

Bonnie didn't lose any of her beauty, neither, in her old age. Her long brown hair had turned grey in some spots, and a few wrinkles appeared on her face. She had considered a face lift and dying her hair in her natural colour until Michael told her he liked her just the way she was. They had both grown old gracefully, for two people in their mid sixties!

While Bonnie was setting up the computer, she would glance at Michael working away under the T-top's undercarriage. At times, she would find herself just gazing at him in his dark blue mechanic's coveralls. She somehow thought he looked really sexy in that outfit!

"Almost done, honey?" she would call to him.

"Yeah... Just one last nut to tighten, dear!" he would reply.

She could hear him grunt with effort as he tightened said nut. Then she heard him let out a breath as he completed his task. "There!" he said as he crawled out from the undercarriage.

"That should do it!" he said as he got beside Bonnie, wiping his hands with a rag.

"Great! Hook this up for me, will you?" she said as she handed him the download cable without even looking.

"Yes, dear!" he said with some disgust. He had hoped they could take a break before proceeding to the next step, which was the big one; but obviously, Bonnie didn't wanna waste any time.

Michael walked over to the T-top and hooked the cable up to the CPU mainframe port. "All right! Cable's in!" Michael announced.

"Okay!!" Bonnie said as she cracked her knuckles, then punched a few keys on the computer. "Can you hear me, KITT?"

After a few moments, there was a reply. "Yes, Bonnie! I am here..." came the familiar voice of KITT.

"We're about to transfer you over. Are you ready, KITT?" she asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Bonnie!" KITT replied with obvious enthusiasm.

She typed out a few more sequences on the computer's keyboard, then said "Okay! HERE GOES"! before punching the "Enter" key.

Michael and Bonnie saw several lights flash on and off on the T-top's dashboard as the information, and the essence that was KITT, was being transferred into the CPU mainframe. After a few minutes, the transfer was complete. "Done!" Bonnie announced as she typed more keys on the computer's keyboard, essentially shutting down the computer's program.

Then they both slowly approached the T-top. "KITT?" Michael asked. The response was nothing but dead silence. "KITT, are you there!?" Michael asked again.

"Yes, Michael! I am here." KITT said from inside the car's dashboard.

Michael and Bonnie both cried out in joy and hugged each other happily.

"HEY! Ol' buddy!!" Michael cried. "How's it feel being back in your old shell, eh!?"

"It's amazing, Michael!" KITT would reply. "Everything is exactly as I remembered it!"

Bonnie and Michael saw several of the dashboard lights flash on and off as KITT tested every system in the T-top. He even went as far as turning the engine on and revving it up a few times. "It's good to be back in a familiar environment! I never thought I'd see the day!"

"Yeah, KITT. Just take it easy, okay? You just got your wheels back..." Michael said immediately.

"But I was so looking forward to taking myself out for a spin!" KITT almost begged.

"Maybe later! For now, though, we've still got work to do..." Michael said as he followed Bonnie inside the house.

"Understood, Michael." KITT said with a hint of disappointment as he shut himself down.

They DID have some work to do still! They had to get in touch with some old friends, including Dr. David Anders. If they were to make this plan work, they would need him especially.


	3. Chapter 3 Countdown To Departure

**CHAPTER 3**

**COUNTDOWN TO DEPARTURE**

They were able to get in touch with Dr Anders that evening. He was quite surprised and delighted at the same time at the news that his two Foundation friends wanted to use his time travel machine one more time.

David Anders had humble beginnings. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he went into scientific studies soon after he graduated from High School. The studying he undertook eventually paid off for him, as he earned himself a PhD in Quantum Physics in 1980. He was soon hired as a Quantum Physicist by a Silicon Valley research corporation where he would work on several privately funded projects that delved into the subject matter.

But his one true passion was time travel. He had read every book and scientific paper that was ever published on the subject. He dreamed that one day he'd become the world's first real time traveler. He used his privileges as the Head Scientist in the Quantum Physics lab to gain access to specialist equipment that would help him develop the time travel machine he had imagined earlier in his life.

He approached several funding bodies trying to gain approval to fund his experiments in time travel; only to be shot down, denied and ridiculed as being a "crackpot scientist who's wild fantasies has made him lose touch with reality". Dejected, the young Dr. Anders went back to working on the mundane privately funded projects his Silicon Valley employer offered him.

His work brought him a little bit of comfort, until he met the woman who would later become his soul mate. The laboratory where he worked had hired a new Receptionist named Caroline Jones to work at the front desk. After warming up to his new co-worker, he would later find out that he had a lot of things in common with this beautiful young woman. It wasn't long before the two of them started dating. When he eventually confided in her his secret ambition, he was relived to note that she didn't laugh in his face- matter of fact, she actually said that she believed in him- he knew right then and there that she was "the one". They would marry later on and have two children, both boys.

He saw his one chance at proving his theories were right when he was hired as part of a research team by The Foundation for Law and Government to work on a teleportation project they were funding. The teleportation mechanism he and the team worked on was very similar to the time travel machine he imagined. Seizing what he saw as his only opportunity to test his theories, he deliberately sabotaged the experiment, sending Michael and KITT back in time in the process. While everyone in The Foundation worked feverishly at bringing Michael and KITT back to the present, he silently exclaimed "Eureka!" on the inside of his soul.

Devon Miles could've sent Dr. Anders to jail for what he did; but instead, he struck a deal with the young scientist. He offered him a chance to perfect his time travel machine under controlled conditions in one of The Foundation's laboratory warehouses. He would eventually attain a stable enough time travel vortex to send Michael, Bonnie, Devon, and an African-American named "R.C."; along with KITT; back in time for a few days, and bring them safely back again. Dr. David Anders had finally achieved his life long dream of building a fully functional time travel machine!

Encouraged by this ultimate development, Dr. Anders approached the funding bodies of Silicon Valley once again armed with this new proof that time travel was, in fast, possible; and a reality. He tried to convince them to fund additional experiments with his time travel machine by saying that mankind could greatly benefit from being able to go back in time for any number of reasons. He was shocked when Silicon Valley turned him down again; this time, stating the reasons that they didn't think time travel would be "logistically and financially viable". Dr. Anders couldn't believe it! As beneficial as he felt his invention would be to humankind, money still ruled the world; and it was because of money that his dreams were shattered!

When he broke the news to his wife when he got home, all she could do was console him and say that she still believed in him; and told him that, one day, his ultimate dream will come true. This brought him little comfort, however.

For the next few years, he would continue working on his time travel equipment in The Foundation's laboratory warehouse, improving and fine tuning a few things here and there. Although actually travelling back in time was his lifelong dream, Dr. Anders never actually used his machine to send himself back in time. He decided that sending people he came to love as his friends was as close to his ultimate dream as he wanted to reach.

Dr. Anders would quit The Foundation just before The City of Seattle bought out 49.99% of the shares. A short time after, he would retire with his family to Malibu, California. He was allowed to keep the prototype of his time travel machine, seeing as The Foundation and The City of Seattle would have no use for it anyway.

He would still keep in touch with Michael and Bonnie from time to time, but he hardly expected the news he got this night that they wanted to use his time travel machine once again to return to the prehistoric past. When Dr. Anders asked his friends why they wanted to do this, "It's just something we feel we have to do." was all the response he got from them. He didn't press the issue any more than that, knowing that his old friends only had the best of intentions.

They convened to meet at his home in Malibu a week from then. Michael and Bonnie still had a few "loose ends to tie up" before making this next incredible journey. Michael contacted some old friends within The City of Seattle in order to obtain a copy of the formula for KITT's old molecular bonded shell. After Devon died, the city gained soul possession of the secret formula that made KITT's outer chassis indestructible. His contacts within the city trusted Michael enough not to ask too many questions as to why he wanted the formula. They just sent him the file over the internet, reassured that he would never use it for malicious intent.

While Bonnie worked on developing the formula, and doing some fine tuning on KITT's systems, Michael would take KITT out for drives almost every day to test his systems and "simply cruise". On sunny days, Michael would bring the convertible roof down and just enjoy the nice weather, as he and KITT often did on their many off days. During these long drives, the two of them would reminisce about the good old days. Although KITT was still a machine, he had learned how to express human emotions. At one point, KITT had a feelings chip installed as part of his programming. It was removed after he was decommissioned, but he still retained the memories of the more basic human emotions. During their drives, Michael knew that what KITT was feeling was KITT's own approximation of nostalgia. Michael admitted he felt nostalgic as well. Then, on the set date, they left for Malibu to meet up with their old friends Dr. David Anders and his wife Caroline Jones Anders.

Although Michael and Bonnie often corresponded with the Scientist and his family, they never actually visited his home in the upscale neighbourhood of Malibu, California until now. When they arrived, they were amazed at seeing the luxurious four bedroom house they owned. Even KITT commented that it was "quite stylish". Dr. Anders and Caroline greeted them both in their front yard. They would then take them on a grand tour of the house.

Michael and Bonnie were impressed at how well decorated the house was. Despite the obvious luxurious nature of the house, it was still kept affordable for most people, no matter what walk of life they came from. Although their two sons had moved out- the youngest not two years ago- Caroline still kept their rooms immaculate. They showed Michael and Bonnie the guest bedroom where they'd be spending the night, which they thought was quite nice.

After Michael and Bonnie were allowed to freshen up after their long journey, Dr. Anders brought them to the nearby warehouse where he had set up the time travel machine he had taken years to develop and refine. He had kept all of the equipment under plastic covering to keep the dust off. Everything was all set to send them back in time to The Great Valley! Michael and Bonnie were then given their leave to visit in and around Malibu a bit while Dr. Anders went to work "warming up the device".

That evening, an private little party was held with just the four of them. They spent most of the night talking about old times and some of the projects Dr. Anders worked on while he was under the employ of Silicon Valley. Although they often times spoke to the couple's two boys via Webcam, they never actually met them in person. The youngest moved out to start his own life almost two years ago. They always came back to visit over a holiday, like Christmas or Easter. The oldest decided to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a scientist. He was currently teaching advanced Physics at the University of Southern California(USC). The youngest decided to become an Accountant, and was currently studying to obtain his Certified Public Accountant(CPA) degree while he worked for a major Accounting firm out of Berkeley. The oldest, however, just became engaged to a young woman out of San Jose who is a Marine Biologist specializing in shark species. They set the wedding date at a year from now; and Dr. Anders and Caroline were already planning to attend.

Dr. Anders and Caroline already knew that Michael and Bonnie mutually decided not to have kids of their own. Michael was an only child who was dead to whatever original family he had left; and Bonnie's sister had three children of her own, two of them boys, which was enough to carry on the family lineage, in Bonnie's mind.

Dr. Anders and Caroline knew about Devon's tragic death a short time after it happened. Everybody in The Foundation loved the old Brit. The younger people saw him as kind of a father figure to everybody, for he cared about each and every one of them a great deal. Dr. Anders and Caroline mourned his passing in their own way. They haven't heard too much about R.C., though. He quit The Foundation at about the same time Bonnie had quit, and returned to Chicago to look after his family's affairs. Last they heard, he had married a young black girl he had met while he was in California, and the two of them were apparently leading a very happy life. No word yet of any children, however.

The four of them would eventually retire for the night. Tomorrow was the big day! Everything was ready for the voyage in time back to The Great Valley to meet up with Little Foot and all of his friends; but mostly to finally find out what is pushing Michael and Bonnie to go there.

* * *

The next morning, the four of them woke bright and early. At their age, they no longer slept in very much. After breakfast, Michael made a quick run to the local gas station to top up KITT's fuel tank. It was more than enough for the purpose of the journey, seeing as the T-top that was KITT was incredibly fuel efficient by design, but Michael felt it would be better to be safe than sorry.

When he returned, they all headed towards the warehouse where the time travel machine was already working and ready to go. For some reason, Michael and Bonnie wanted Dr. Anders to set the date at roughly fifteen years after the last time they went to The Great Valley. At that period, most of the young dinos would be full grown, some of them would maybe have offspring of their own. Figuring that dinosaurs had a lifespan of thirty to forty years, this would place all of them at near middle age.

Michael and Bonnie made sure they brought everything they needed for the trip, and it was all piled into KITT's trunk. Michael told Dr. Anders that they would be staying there for roughly a week.

"Why so long?" David Anders would ask.

Michael simply shrugged. "We feel we need to stay there for that long..." Bonnie smiled and nodded in acknowledgment of Michael's statement.

David Anders simply shrugged. "Okay... No problem."

Then he moved to the control computer and typed a few keys on the keyboard. "All right! Everything's ready!"

Michael nodded and moved to get into the T-top that was KITT, who had already opened the door for Michael.

"You sure you don't wanna come with us?" Bonnie asked. "You're gonna love The Great Valley..."

After glancing at each other, David and Caroline politely shook their heads. "Thanks for the offer, but just sending the two of you..."

KITT harrumphed in interruption.

"... the THREE of you..." David said in apology. "... back in time again is reward enough for me."

Although David had gotten used to KITT's little quirks, he still sometimes forgets that the car is more than just a machine, but an actual "person".

"And seeing Davey's machine work it's miracle one more time is MY reward." Caroline said.

"Besides, somebody's gotta stay here to look after the machine... And turn it back on in order to bring you back..." David said with a small laugh.

Bonnie smiled and nodded. "Okay..."

Caroline moved in to give her old friend a big hug. "See you in seven days!"

Bonnie smiles at Caroline as she relinquished the hug, then moved to get into KITT's passenger seat. KITT had already opened the door for her.

KITT then backed himself up to the very edge of the warehouse. He remembered the routine where he had to accelerate to 30 Miles Per Hour in order to pass through the vortex safely and not come out "too hot" on the other side.

When KITT was fully backed up, Michael got out of the driver's seat and stood next to KITT's open door waiting for the signal to accelerate towards the vortex.

The familiar humming sound of the vortex gate resounded throughout the warehouse as the machine gathered up strength. A brilliant flash of blue light, accompanied by the sound of the air being pushed outwards reverberated throughout the warehouse as the vortex was opened.

"OKAY! GO FOR IT!" David called out over the din as he gave the signal.

"ALL RIGHT! SEE YOU ON THE FLIPSIDE!" Michael called out and waved as he got into KITT's driver's seat and pressed the accelerator to bring KITT up to the required speed.

KITT reached 30 Miles Per Hour in no time, and maintained that speed until he passed through the vortex. David and Caroline squinted against the brilliant flash of light as KITT disappeared through the gate. The vortex then closed and the machine powered down. They both smiled and looked at each other. They walked away holding each other tight. There was nothing more they could do now until seven days later when they must return and reactivate the vortex that is supposed to bring them back.


	4. Chapter 4 Touchdown!

**CHAPTER 4**

**TOUCHDOWN!**

KITT emerged on the other side of the vortex in a flash of light. He skidded to a halt roughly 50 feet away from the opening, which vanished moments after KITT broke though.

"WHOA!" Michael cried out as he was jostled around in his driver's seat. Bonnie let out her own scream as she, too, got moved about from her own place beside Michael.

"I've forgotten how BUMPY the re-entry was!" Michael commented.

"You okay, KITT?" he then asked his long time friend.

"Yes, Michael." KITT replied.

"Yes, this looks like the Great Valley alright." Bonnie commented as she looked around. "I remember the scenery like it was yesterday!"

Michael noticed that the sun was shining down(or what the dinos liked to call "the bright circle"), but that there were storm clouds off in the distance bringing down rain(or what the dinos liked to call "sky water"), but nowhere headed near their location.

"Yep! We're in the right place all right." Michael said. "Way to go, Davey!!"

David Anders was not only able to establish a stable enough time travel vortex to remain open for a certain period of time, but he was also able to project the vortex's re-entry point into any geographical location within a radius of 500 miles. Almost as if he was able to incorporate time travel and teleportation into one! Dr. Anders was able to calculate the longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates for The Great Valley, which was the Mojave Desert in modern times, and reopened the time vortex there.

"Scan for our dino friends, KITT." Michael ordered.

"Right away, Michael" KITT replied as he started scanning the area, his scanners making the audible WHOO WHOO sound in the process.

"I have them, Michael!" KITT announced as he displayed a grid on his internal monitor showing several amorphous blobs. "They're all gathered roughly three miles due South West."

"Well, then, let's go say 'hi' to them, shall we?" Michael said with a smile.

"Do you think they'll remember us and KITT?" Bonnie asked with some concern.

"I hope so..." Michael said with some reassurance.

He then pressed down on KITT's accelerator, which let fly dirt, rubble and grass behind him as he sped away towards the location of the amorphous blobs that his scanners detected.


	5. Chapter 5 Joyful Reunions

**CHAPTER 6**

**JOYFUL REUNIONS**

Lesik had gathered all of the important dinos of the Great Valley herd at the speaking circle to discuss matters related to food supplies for everybody in the valley. Since the cold time had just ended, and a new warm time was on the way, they had to consider the fact that since wanderers would be coming into The Great Valley soon, it had to be determined whether or not to ration some of the broad leafy greens for them, and leave the rest for the wanderers, or not. Everyone had their own opinion on the subject.

While Lesik and some other longnecks were always looking out for the welfare of all the residents of the valley, others had a more selfish mindset, like the threehorns and the spiketails, who seemed to be consistently gobbling up some of the finest greens the valley had to offer.

They were in the middle of their deliberations when a swimmer dino standing next to Lesik was suddenly distracted by something. She put her hand to her earhole as she turned away. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Huh?" Lesik said as he turned to face her.

"I'm hearing something in the wind..." the swimmer female said. "It's strange, and...." She trailed off.

"I don't hear anything..." Lesik admitted.

"You have to listen to it very closely, Lesik! I'm not imagining it. It's real!"

Lesik did as his swimmer friend asked. His facial features showed surprise as he finally caught the faint sound she was describing.

"You're right, Alaina! I can hear it, too!" He admitted.

Mutters started to erupt among the gathered crowd of dinos. Many were wondering what their longneck leader and his swimmer friend were hearing.

"Doesn't that sound familiar to you, Lesik?" Alaina asked. "Almost as if it could be..."

"LOOK!" the male flyer standing next to her exclaimed as he pointed. "I see something over on the top of that hill!"

Lesik looked over to where the male flyer was pointing, and he could see what his flyer friend saw.

Lesik gasped. "You're right, Petrie! There IS something, or some ONE, on top of that hill. It's moving towards us... and it's FAST, whatever it is!" Lesik said as he watched the black shape approach.

Other dinos moved up to see what Lesik, Petrie and Alaina were seeing, but mostly to protect three of the leading dinos of the Great Valley herd from harm, in case it was a sharptooth.

Lesik gasped again. "By The Great Beyond! PETRIE, that looks just like..."

"More than 'looks like', Lesik! It IS!!" Petrie interrupted.

The black creature stopped dead in it's tracks about 500 feet away from the entrance to the speaking circle. There was dead silence among the dinos. None of them knew what to say or do. Other than the slight breeze in the air, the only audible sound was the strange noise the small black creature was making, even as it came to a dead stop a short distance away from the entrance to the speaking circle.

"Everyone, stay here!" Lesik ordered as he moved out to get a closer look at the creature, the stomping of his footfalls echoing throughout the valley.

"Wait, son! I'm coming with you!" exclaimed an older longneck standing not far away from him.

Lesik smiled at the older longneck. "You don't have to, dad. I shouldn't be in any danger. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" the older longneck pressed.

Lesik smiled and nodded. "All right. Just stay behind me, okay?"

"Whatever you say, son!" the older longneck said as he fell in place behind Lesik.

He already had a pretty good idea who this black creature was, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. He didn't blame his father for wanting to accompany him, either. He was always protective of him, even though he was an adult longneck and much stronger than his patriarch.

* * *

Michael brought KITT to a stop roughly 500 feet away from where the dinos were all gathered. Not knowing if any of the gathered dinos were any of their old friends, he chose to stay on the side of caution.

"They're all gathered at their meeting place..." Bonnie commented.

"Yeah..." Michael said. "What was it they called it again??? The... speaking rock???"

"Speaking CIRCLE!" KITT corrected.

"Thanks, KITT!" Michael said.

"I remember it was very sacred to them..." Bonnie mused.

"Probably still is..." Michael said.

"Michael!?" KITT suddenly said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I see them, KITT!" Michael acknowledged.

Bonnie said nothing as she saw what Michael and KITT were seeing. "I've forgotten how HUGE these longnecks were!!" she exclaimed as she eyed the two who were approaching them. She figured they must be the leaders of the group that stayed down at the speaking circle. But she didn't recognize any of the gathered dinos as being any of the ones they met years ago. Neither did Michael or KITT, for that matter.

"Yeah... and any one of them can squash KITT down to a pancake, even with his molecular bonded shell!" Michael admitted.

"You think coming here was a mistake?" Bonnie fearfully asked.

"We'll soon find out..." Michael said as he started to slowly exit from KITT's driver's seat.

"Michaaaaellll!" KITT cried out.

"It's okay, KITT! I know what I'm doing!!" Michael said in reassurance as he walked up a few feet in front of KITT with his hands raised up above his head as a sign of non aggression.

By this time, the footfalls of the two longnecks were so close that they literally shook the ground. They stopped about 20 or so yards away from Michael, but said nothing.

Still with his hands raised, Michael called up to them. "We mean you no harm! We are friends!"

Michael noticed that the younger longneck's huge eyes went wide in surprise, and his facial features gave way to something that would be similar to recognition.

"I don't believe it!" He heard the young adult longneck say as he bent his huge head down to face him.

"Myk'l??? Is that YOU???"

"Little Foot???"

The young longneck chuckled. "Yes, Myk'l! It's me!"

Michael smiled slowly. "LITTLE FOOT!!!" he exclaimed as he ran up and hugged Little Foot's huge neck. Since Little Foot's neck was now just as big as KITT, Michael's hug was more like him pressing his whole body against the big warm neck.

"MY GOD! LOOK AT YOU... HOW YOU'VE GROWN!!!" Michael exclaimed with great joy.

By this time, Bonnie had emerged from KITT and was smiling as she ran up to give Little Foot her own hug.

"Hi, Little Foot!"

"BAWH-KNEE!" Little Foot exclaimed. "It's so good to see you again!"

"And you, too! I can't believe it! Look how you've grown up! You're so HUGE!"

Little Foot chuckled. "Believe it or not, I'm not the biggest longneck in The Great Valley. I'm about medium sized for my kind. How are YOU doing, Khit?"

WHOO WHOOOO. "Just fine, Little Foot! I must say, you've grown into a fine male longneck."

Little Foot chuckled again. "And you haven't changed a bit, my khar friend!"

"Why would I change when I like myself exactly the way I am?"

"Indeed, Khit! Indeed!"

The older longneck, who had stood in the background while this happy reunion was taking place, decided to approach the group. "Well... Now that we've established that you're old friends of my son, allow me to introduce myself: Bron... Lesik's father..."

"Sir..." Michael said as he nodded to the new longneck facing him.

WHOO WHOOO. "Greetings!" KITT said.

"Wait... Did you just call Little Foot... Lesick???" Bonnie asked, somewhat confused.

Little Foot chuckled. "I gave up my old name once I reached adolescence. 'Lesik' is my real name. It's the name my parents gave me."

Michael smiled. "Well, no matter what your actual name is, I'm glad to see you haven't forgotten our old friendship!" he said as he gave Lesik an affectionate pat on his huge neck.

Lesik smiled himself. "We longnecks tend to have long memories about such things, which is why we have storytellers who retell all of the old traditional stories of our kind to the younger generations. But we can tell you all about that later. For now, come down to the speaking circle with us! Some of your old friends are there! Well... Petrie and Ducky are, at least. The others didn't come to the circle this morning, but we can meet up with them later; and I'm sure all of the Great Valley residents in attendance down there would love to meet you..."

Michael smiled and nodded. "Thanks! We'd love to!"

Lesik nodded. "Just follow us!" he said as he turned to head back towards the speaking circle. Michael and Bonnie fell in step in between Lesik and Bron. KITT followed them under his own power from behind.

Both longnecks kept a slow steady pace to allow Michael and Bonnie to walk leisurely between them and allow KITT to bring up the rear. The distinctive sound of his engine told them that he was keeping up with them.

"I'm curious." Lesik began as he turned his head towards the old human couple. "Do hyoomahns always undergo a change in fur colour when they get older?"

Michael knew that by "fur", he meant their hair, and that he remembered the way they looked when they were younger. "Some of us do..." He simply replied.

"It also sometimes happens among us longnecks, and other species as well; but most of us just get a few more wrinkles here and there..." Bron would say.

"Kinda like you, eh, Bonnie?" Michael teased as he squeezed his wife shoulder.

"Shut up!" Bonnie cried as she pulled herself away.

"As opposed to humans, some cars tend to rust with age. But you won't see one rust spot on THIS body..." KITT stated.

"Wait a few more years, KITT. You'll be singing a different tune..." Michael teased.

WHOO WHOOO. "AS IF!"

Everybody laughed at the banter between them.

But while the conversation between them was going on, Michael found that Bron's voice sounded awful familiar. He would eventually realize that Bron sounded almost exactly like James Cromwell, a character actor he had seen in many movies and TV shows. Since the dinosaurs sounded very human, it didn't really surprise him that there'd be some similarities with actual human voices of his time. He couldn't think of anyone who's voice was similar to Lesik, however. He figured the longneck he first knew as Little Foot must have a unique voice among dinosaurs and humans.

When they reached the speaking circle, Michael and Bonnie noticed that everyone was looking at them intently. As a result, they couldn't help but feel a little nervous. They were sure KITT was feeling nervous in his own way. All of the assembled dinos were muttering amongst themselves at the scene before them. Michael and Bonnie could understand intermittent words in their conversations. Most of them were saying that they heard stories about such creatures who visited The Great Valley many seasons ago, but never really believed it was true, until now.

"Everyone?" Lesik called out, bringing the assembled to silence. "May I present some old friends of ours, and of all The Great Valley. Firstly, this is Myk'l Night, a hyoomahn male..."

"Hi!" he said as he smiled and waved at everybody. A few dinos were stunned at hearing him speak flattooth.

"Secondly, Bawh-knee Barrrrr..."

"Barstow!" Bonnie completed.

Lesik smiled and nodded in thanks. "A hyoomahn female..."

More mutters ensued. Bonnie was sure she heard comments from some of the dinos admiring her beauty.

"And last, but not least, Khit... a khar!"

WHOO WHOOOO. "Greetings to you all! I am the Knight Industries Two Thousand. K.I.T.T. for short!"

This brought forth laughter from some of the dinos, as they thought the name was pretty funny.

"Most of the assembled here, you've never met..." Lesik continued. "but they've heard many stories about you... But there are TWO here that you DO know. This is Alaina, who used to be known as 'Ducky'."

"Hello!" waved the smiling female swimmer as she approached them.

"Hi, Ducky!" Bonnie smiled as she waved back while Michael simply smiled and waved.

"... and Petrie the flyer..."

Petrie cried in joy as he ran up to the human pair, picked them up in his winged arms and hugged them.

"WHOA!" Michael cried out as he was lifted off the ground with ease by the big flyer. Bonnie simply let out a scream.

"I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE YOU BOTH AGAIN!! I'M SO GLAD YOU'VE COME BACK!!!" Petrie cried out with immense happiness as he danced around with both humans in his winged arms.

Alaina gasped. "PETRIE, BE CAREFUL! THEY MAY BE FRAGILE!"

But Petrie didn't hear. Giddy with laughter, he set them down on the ground and gave them an affectionate beak rub. Both humans were laughing themselves as they reciprocated with some pats to his beak and cheeks.

"Wait! I just noticed something..." Bonnie began. "Petrie... your speech impediment... it's gone!"

Petrie laughed. "Thanks for noticing! I did it myself, too!" he said as he stood proud.

"Uhh... I helped him out with it... a little bit..." Alaina chimed in.

"Hey! Congratulations, Petrie!" Michael smiled as he patted the flyer on his winged arm. "Way to go!"

Petrie smiled. "Thanks... though I can't really take all the credit... Ducky was right when she said she helped me out with it... Maybe that's why I fell in love with her and took her as my life mate."

Michael and Bonnie were stunned at the news. They looked at each other in disbelief.

After a few moments, Michael was the first to speak. "You mean... YOU... and Ducky... are.... MATED!!?"

Petrie smiled and nodded not realizing the bombshell he just dropped on his old friends. "Mm hmm... What about you, Bonnie? Did you ever find a mate?"

"Yes, I did... MICHAEL is my mate!" Bonnie said.

Petrie smiled again. "I always KNEW you two were made for each other! So, how many offspring do you have?"

Michael answered that question. "Uhh... We've decided not to have kids, or... offspring..."

"Oh..." Petrie said, feeling a little embarrassed by his question.

"Well, we were able to have a son between us..." Alaina stated.

This was another bombshell that stunned Michael and Bonnie. This time, it was Bonnie who spoke up. "You mean... you were able to have an offspring??? Despite the fact that you're..."

"... That I'm a swimmer and Petrie's a flyer?" Alaina completed. "We thought it was impossible, too, at first; but that didn't stop us from trying. Of the four eggs I laid, one egg hatched. The baby came out perfectly healthy!" Alaina beamed with pride.

"We named him 'Slooper' because of the sound he makes when he dives into the fast water. I taught him to do that myself!" Petrie showed his own pride in this.

"Who knew cross breeding between dinos was possible..." Bonnie whispered to Michael.

"You've got living proof that it is..." Michael whispered back.

"The herd didn't like the idea of us being mates at first..." Alaina continued. "But afterwards, when they saw how much we loved each other, they came to accept the two of us being together. We never hoped of having a baby; so we decided that we'd settle for the two of us being together as mates for the rest of our lives. But when Slooper came along, we saw it as a bonus!"

"Congratulations, Alaina!" Bonnie smiled as she moved in to hug the female swimmer.

"Thanks, baw-knee!" Alaina reciprocated.

"I can't WAIT to introduce you to Slooper! I'm sure he's gonna like you!!" Petrie exclaimed.

"We're looking forward to meeting your son as well, Petrie!" Michael smiled.

Lesik, who had stood in the background while this conversation was going on, bent his head down to face the two humans before he spoke. "I'm sure they'll all be happy to see you again! Cera, Ruby... and even Chomper... along with their families..."

"Chomper???" Michael asked in confusion. "OH! You mean the little T-rex??? He's here, too!!?"

"Oh, yes!" Alaina said. "He lives in a cave in The Mysterious Beyond along with his mate. But she's very nice... most of the time..."

Lesik chuckled. "Except Chomper's not so 'little' anymore. He's grown to be a fine male sharptooth, and is still probably the best friend I'll ever have!"

While Lesik was talking, Petrie flew up towards KITT and settled down to land on his roof.

"Watch the paint, Petrie!" KITT warned.

"Don't worry! I'll be gentle!" Petrie said in reassurance.

"I certainly hope so, for your sake..." KITT said.

An audible CLUNK could be heard as Petrie settled down to land on KITT's roof and brought his wings around himself.

"As for not having offspring, you're not the only ones who didn't have any... Ruby doesn't have any offspring, either... But for her, it was not by choice..." Lesik looked sad. "You can talk about that with her when you meet her. She doesn't seem to mind..."

"What about you, Lesik? Any mate or children of your own?" Bonnie asked.

Lesik smiled. "Yes, as a matter of fact! I have one boy longneck and one girl longneck! Both twins! I'll introduce you to them later on, along with my life mate, who's probably the most gorgeous female longneck I've ever met!"

"That she is, son! The perfect choice!!" Bron said proudly from his spot in the crowd.

Lesik smiled back at his father.

"You spoke about everybody else we knew... except for Spike... What's he doing nowadays?" Michael asked.

Lesik's expression grew sad once more. "Spike's been dead for many seasons. He fell off a cliff to his death under tragic circumstances..."

Michael felt embarrassed at his question as he shuffled around uneasily. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay... We've mourned Spike's passing a long time ago. The whole Great Valley felt the loss the day he died."

In the background, Petrie immediately moved in to comfort his life mate as the memory of her foster brother's death was brought back to life once more. Bonnie sought comfort in Michael as well; as she, too, felt a pang of sadness.

Lesik remained silent for a few moments before lifting his head up to full height to speak to all those assembled. "Everyone? Because of this unexpected and joyous reunion with our old friends, I'm sure we can put off the discussion about our green food supplies until tomorrow. Therefore, I'm calling this meeting to a halt; and we'll reconvene here tomorrow at dawn to pick up where we left off. Have a nice day, everybody!"

With this, the crowd of dinos dispersed in every direction.

"Cera's the first of our old friends who lives the closest from here. We'll go see her first. You'll also meet her mate and two threehorn children. But don't worry! They're real nice, and I'm sure they'll like you." Lesik would say.

"Lead the way!" Michael smiled as he gestured.

"All right! Follow me!" Lesik said as he started walking out of the speaking circle.

Michael couldn't quite put his finger on it until now. He thought Petrie's voice sounded awful familiar. That's when it hit him! He sounded just like Paul Reubens!! He had seen his kid's show "Pee Wee's Playhouse" once or twice, and thought that his Pee Wee Herman character was quite bizarre and silly; but somehow, he always remembered the voice. Petrie sounded very much like Pee Wee Herman! He wondered how many more "celebrity voices" he'd hear while he stayed in The Great Valley.

* * *

On their way to Cera's nest, Lesik decided to broach the subject he had on his mind ever since he met up with the trio from the future again. "So, what bring you back to The Great Valley?" he would ask them.

That's when Michael told him about the strange recurring dream he and Bonnie have been having for two weeks now.

"By 'dreem', you mean a 'sleep story', right?"

"Yeah... that's it! A 'sleep story'." Michael answered.

"Hmmm... It sounds just like the sleep story I've been having as of late as well! Longnecks who float in the air... flying rocks... uprooted trees... Yep! Sounds about right!"

"Sounds just like the sleep story I've been having, too!" Bron admitted.

"Funny thing is: I've talked to other longnecks in the valley, and they're describing the exact same sleep story! I can remember only one other time where I had a similar sleep story... Which means..." He eyed his father briefly. "... we may have to undertake another longneck migration... and soon..."

Then he turned his attention to Michael, Bonnie and KITT. "So if the three of you are here because of that sleep story, it must mean that you are to be a part of this great longneck migration as well!"

Michael thought about this for a moment, then nodded. "That would make a whole lot of sense... But I still don't understand 'why'... I mean... Why would we be drawn to here??? NOW! At this point in time!!"

Lesik smiled. "Maybe that's something you will learn on this journey..."

"But if you're going to allow Myk'l, Baw-knee and Khit to be a part of your great longneck migration, you MUST allow me and Petrie to be a part of it as well!"

"Yeah... and Slooper, too!" Petrie said.

Lesik chuckled. "Even if I told you 'no', you'd come along anyway... All right... You can be a part of the migration as well..."

"Thanks, Lesik!" Alaina and Petrie both said at once.

Lesik simply smiled. "We're here." He simply said as he indicated the forest's edge where Cera's nest was located.

They all saw a male threehorn standing at the edge of said forest grazing on some of the grass that was growing there. The sound of the footfalls made him look up.

"Oh! It's you, Lesik..." the male threehorn said as he recognized the big longneck. Then his grew wide in surprise and he let drop his mouthful of grass when he saw who was accompanying him. "What the???..."

"It's okay, Wendyk! They're friends." Lesik said reassuringly.

Wendyk remained stunned for a few moments, then regained his composure. "I never really believed those stories you told me... until NOW..."

Lesik smiled slightly. "Is Cera home?"

"Yeah, she is... CERAAAAA!"

"What!?" came a decidedly female voice from the forest.

"Lesik's here!"

"What does he want!?"

Lesik just rolled his eyes.

"He's brought some friends with him! You oughta come see this!"

They heard a groan coming from the forest and the sounds of shuffling among the fallen leaves. "What kind of stunt is he trying to pull no..."

Her grumbling was cut short by the sight. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth gaped. "Lesik, are those..."

"Yes, Cera! Your old friends have returned!"

Cera smiled slowly. "Well I'll be a threehorn's uncle! Myk'l... Baw-knee... and Khit... What the heck brings you by!!?"

"Lesik's sleep story!" Michael simply answered.

"Oh, yeah... He's told me about that..."

Then she heard the sound of scuffling behind her. "It's okay, kids! They're not going to hurt you! Come on out!!" she said knowing full well they were cowering behind her tail.

"They're here to meet the family." Lesik smiled.

"Well, then... These are my little bundles of trouble Donalk... and Deena..." she said as she pushed the boy and girl threehorn forward in turn. "And this is my life mate Wendyk..." He nodded. "My DOUBLE bundle of trouble!" she said jokingly.

"Stop it!" Wendyk said under his breath.

Michael and Bonnie smiled as they extended their arms to Cera. "Come here!" Michael encouraged.

"Aaawww..." Cera cried as she moved in to allow herself to be hugged by the two humans. "You two look as healthy as when I last saw you! A few more wrinkles around the edges, but still as healthy as ever!"

"And you..." Bonnie said. "Congratulations on the family!"

"Thank you!" Cera said with pride. "I see you haven't changed a bit, khit!"

WHOO WHOOO. "Naturally... The only time I WOULD change is if these two completely redesigned me from scratch."

"But I remember you were able to change form at will. Can you still do that?"

WHOO WHOOO. "Yes... But I won't change my form unless it was absolutely needed."

KITT knew she was referring to his "Super Pursuit Mode". When Michael and Bonnie rebuilt KITT, they gave him that ability once more, just in case it was needed.

"I'll bet I can put a dent in that outer shell of yours NOW that I'm all grown up... and much more powerful... I have NO PROBLEM splitting rocks in two now!"

WHOO WHOOO. "Though I wouldn't recommend you do that to me again... 'less you run the risk of getting another... headache."

Cera nodded. "True..." she said simply, and left it at that.

KITT called Cera's bluff, and won. Michael was a bit worried that if Cera DID decide to charge KITT, she could very well put a huge dent in KITT's side panel. She was now as big as a bulldozer; and perhaps just as strong, if not moreso! He's had more than a few unfortunate encounters with heavy equipment throughout his career which left KITT in bad shape. If Cera wanted to, she could easily flip KITT over on his side and burst his fuel tank; but he was relieved that Cera decided to "play nice".

"Now that everyone here's acquainted with one another, we should go see Ruby now. She and her mate volunteered to babysit Slooper while Petrie and Alaina came to the speaking circle today." Lesik said.

"Oh!" Bonnie said in surprise. "So Ruby's got a mate despite the fact that she... can't have kids?"

Lesik nodded. "Males and females of our kind don't all become mates simply to foster children. We also appreciate each other's company, as you obviously do as well..."

"You learn something new every day..." Bonnie said almost to herself.

"Life's like that..." Michael smiled.

"They're down by the river. This way!" Lesik said as he indicated the direction to go, and started walking, his footfalls echoing through the air.

* * *

On their way down to the river, the conversation revolved around parents and grandparents. Mainly, they wanted to know if any of the older dinos, like Grandpa Longneck, Grandma Longneck, Mr. Thicknose, etc., were still alive. Lesik regrettably told them that they were all long since dead. The last one to die was Tria, Cera's stepmother and Topsy's second mate. She died just before the last cold time, and it was not long after Topsy's passing.

"But they had a daughter, right?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah... Tricia... Cera's half sister..." Lesik answered.

"Whatever happened to her?" Bonnie asked the big longneck.

"Not long after she reached adulthood, she fell in love with a wandering threehorn and decided to join his herd... This was just before Tria and Topsy died... She said she'd come back and visit when she could, but... we haven't seen her since..." Lesik said as he grew more somber.

"I just hope she's okay..." Cera mused.

It wasn't long before they reached the river bank where Ruby, her mate and Slooper were located. From afar, they saw that the two fast runners were standing next to the fast water of the river, but Slooper was nowhere to be seen. Then, he suddenly emerged from the water with a fish in his mouth, and swam to shore.

They could hear Ruby say "Good boy, Slooper!" as she took the fish from his mouth and placed it on a pile of similar fish nearby. It looked like Ruby was teaching Slooper to catch fish for their dinner. Being omnivores, it was only natural.

The male fast runner turned to see the approaching bunch, and tapped his mate to get her attention before he pointed.

Smiling, Ruby got the little swimmer/flyer hybrid's attention and pointed. "Look, Slooper! Look who's here!"

Slooper let out a cry of "DAAAAAA..." as he ran up towards his flyer father.

"HIYA, SON!" Petrie exclaimed as he kneeled down with winged arms outstretched to accept his son's hug. He cried out OOF as Slooper crashed into him.

"Did you have fun with Auntie Ruby today!?" Petrie asked.

Slooper smiled and nodded. "Uh huh..."

"Look, Slooper! There are some new friends here to meet you!" Alaina said as she gestured. "This is Bonnie... Michael... and their friend Khit..."

Bonnie and Michael both smiled as they knelt down before Slooper.

"Hello..." Bonnie said softly.

"Hiya, kid!" Michael said himself.

WHOO WHOOO. "Greetings, little one!" KITT said.

Slooper's facial features lost it's smile, and his eyes grew a bit wider. "New..."

"That's right, Slooper! These are our friends! Don't be shy! They're not gonna hurt you..." Petrie encouraged.

Michael smiled and stuck out his hand towards the little one. He tentatively stretched out his beak towards that hand and sniffed it. When Michael reached out to pet the little dino, Slooper immediately moved back in the safety of his father's winged arms.

Petrie chuckled. "He doesn't quite know what to make of you yet. But don't worry! Once he gets to know you, he'll be almost eating out of your hands!"

"He also doesn't quite know how to master the flattooth language yet, but were teaching him... slowly..." Alaina said.

"He's beautiful, Alaina!" Bonnie said tenderly.

"Thank you!" Alaina replied with pride.

Meanwhile, Ruby calmly approached the gathered group. "I don't believe what I'm seeing, and I don't see a lot of unbelievable things..."

Michael smiled. "Hi, Ruby."

"Myk'l... Boh-nnie... and Khit!" Ruby smiled.

"Hello..." Bonnie said.

She hugged each of the humans in turn. They noticed that she hasn't changed much since they last saw her. Only difference is: She's got a lot more feathering than when she was younger; and she's also grown! She was quite tall now!! At six foot four, Michael was pretty tall for a human; but Ruby looked to be about seven and a half feet tall! Yet she was surprisingly gentle when she took both humans in her arms for a hug.

"Are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Michael pressed.

"Oh! Of course... Myk'l, Boh-nnie... This is my mate, Sergiak! Sergiak? Myk'l, and Boh-nnie..."

KITT harrumphed.

"And that's Khit..."

"Hello..." Sergiak said with a bit of gruff in his voice.

"Pleased to meet you!" Michael smiled as he extended his hand out to the male fast runner. Sergiak just looked at the hand, somewhat confused. He didn't quite know what to make of this strange creature's even stranger gesture. That's when Michael took Sergiak's own hand and placed in his outstretched one. He just taught him how to do a handshake!

Sergiak was slightly larger than Ruby, and a bit taller, too. His skin and feather colouring was a light purple hue.

Sergiak smiled slightly. "Do you creatures often do such things?"

Michael smiled himself. "We do. It's a sign of friendship..."

"I see..." Sergiak said. He let out a small laugh. "I must say, you sure are... unusual... to say the least... Ruby's told me stories about you and your kind! I'd like to learn more!" He smiled brightly.

"You'll have plenty of time to learn about us! Don't you worry!!" Michael said.

Meanwhile, Slooper had wandered away from his father and cautiously approached KITT. He sniffed curiously at KITT's left front tire. WHOO WHOOO. "Be careful! That beak looks sharp, and my tires are quite fragile!"

"Uuh..." Slooper sounded and smiled. "F... fr... FRIEND!"

WHOO WHOOO. "Yes, Slooper! I AM your friend!"

While this was going on, Bonnie decided to broach the subject that was on her mind to Ruby. "So, Ruby. Lesik tells me that you decided not to have offpsring?"

Ruby's smile disappeared as her expression grew more somber. She sighed. "It was not a 'decision' moreso that I had no choice in the matter... You see... I can't lay eggs..."

"Can't lay eggs??? You mean you're sterile!?" Michael asked.

"If that's what you humans call not being able to have babies, then 'yes'. But the funny thing is: I never found out until I met Sergiak and we tried to make babies..."

"Oh! Well, of COURSE..." Cera said.

Ruby sighed again. "I'm just glad that Sergiak is still with me, even after he found out that I cannot have babies and he cannot be a father as long as he is with me."

"As long as we are together, that's all that matters..." Sergiak said comfortingly.

They both shared a comforting beak rub, the equivalent to a kiss among humans.

"That's right. Look at us!" Bonnie said. "We've decided not to have... babies... Michael and I."

"But you could've had babies, if you wanted to?" Ruby asked.

Michael nodded. "Of course..."

"Wish I was given that choice..." Ruby said as she sighed again.

"But you always saw the bright side of every situation..." Sergiak said. "You don't mind looking after everyone else's kids, even though you can't have any of your own..."

"For which we are all grateful!" Lesik said. "You're like a second mother to them!"

"And that's why I fell in love with you, my dear..." Sergiak smiled.

"I know..." Ruby smiled back as she shared another beak rub with her life mate.

"So where to now, big guy?" Michael asked of Lesik, changing the subject.

"I guess the next stop should be my own nest to meet my mate and kids! You'll love them, and they'll love to meet you! This way!" He said as he started walking towards his home.

Everybody soon followed in step. Ruby and Sergiak made sure they brought the fish they had gathered, as they intended to eat them later.

* * *

A short time later, the group arrived at Lesik's nest where his mate, a female longneck named Ali, was watching their two kids- Alicia, the girl longneck; and Bron junior, the boy longneck- were running around and jumping up and down in a sort of improvised game of tag. Though the boy longneck was named after his grandfather, some residents of The Great Valley called him "Little Foot Junior", because he was so much like his father.

Michael and Bonnie were so amazed to see that Bron Junior looked so much like what Lesik did when he was at that age! Even KITT commented that the resemblance was uncanny.

After Lesik's family got over the initial surprise of seeing these creatures for the first time in their lives; which made them finally believe the stories they've heard; they warmed up to the trio from the future and made them feel most welcome.

Then it was decided that the entire group broke for lunch before going to meet Chomper and his mate in The Mysterious Beyond. While the flatooth had their greens and the fast runners has their meal of fish, Michael and Bonnie broke out stuff to make sandwiches. They had brought everything they needed for that, and kept it in a cooler in KITT's trunk. They even brought along the picnic blanket! Michael made sure he brought the ultra modern space aged cooler that would keep all of the perishable food items at fridge temperature for their entire stay. Though they made sure they brought enough to last them the week, they intended to help themselves to the local prehistoric fruits and vegetables. Michael even brought his fishing pole with him in the hopes he'd have a chance to catch a few and have a real makeshift camping supper.

Since they were reminded that KITT only "ate" gah-sso-leen, the dinos abstained from offering him any greens or fish.

Once their meal was over, everybody made their way to the Mysterious Beyond, and Chomper's cave.

* * *

About a half hour later, the gang all arrived at the mouth of Chomper's cave. "This is it." Lesik announced. Michael and Bonnie looked around at the desolation of the area and wondered how anyone could possibly survive out here.

"So why did Chomper choose to live out here?" Michael would ask.

"He felt that he and his mate made too many residents of The Great Valley nervous by actually living in the valley, though he kept his word in regards to not attacking or eating any of us." Lesik answered.

"It's amazing his mate kept her word as well!" Cera commented.

"Chomper!? CHOMPER, are you there!!?" Lesik called inside the cave.

A few moments later, a roar was heard coming from inside, which made Michael and Bonnie cringe with fear. The stomping echoes of footfalls were heard as whatever made that roar approached the cave entrance. They were stunned at seeing a fearful looking monster emerge from the cave and gaze upon the assembled group of dinos. It was a sharptooth male! He stood about 20 feet tall, had green olive skin and jaws that could literally tear the molecular bonded shell off of KITT's undercarriage! Michael swallowed the lump in his throat. Bonnie was too petrified to do anything.

Lesik, however, didn't seem frightened by this sight. He smiled as he approached the big sharptooth. "Hello, Chomper. I brought some old friends here to see you."

The sharptooth eyed the strange creatures standing next to Lesik. Those eyes betrayed surprise. "Khhhit??? Is that you!?" he said in perfect flattooth.

WHOO WHOOO. "It's me, Chomper. YOU'VE certainly changed!"

Chomper rumbled laughter. "And you haven't changed a BIT! You're exactly as I remember you!!" He then eyed the two humans. "And you must be Myk'l and Bonnie." He said as he bent his head towards them. "You've aged, but I recognize your eyes."

When they looked closer, Michael and Bonnie recognized the red coloured eyes of the diminutive sharptooth they've met all of those years ago. "And your eyes are the only things that HAVEN'T changed for you!"

Chomper rumbled laughter. "Not entirely! I'm still as nice as ever..."

Chomper then bent down to allow Michael an Bonnie to give him their warmfelt hug. Chomper made that purring sound common to sharpteeth denoting happiness.

Another roar came from the cave. This was when another sharptooth emerged. This one, decidedly female, had a lighter shade of green than Chomper, and was a bit smaller. She said something to Chomper which sounded like a series of roars to everyone else, but which translated to _"So what do we owe the pleasure, Teekul?" _"Teekul" being Chomper's sharptooth name.

"_Look, V'Leck! These are my friends! The humans and the khar I was telling you about?"_

The female sharptooth eyed the trio momentarily. _"You were right, Teekul. They ARE strange looking!" _She then sniffed the air. _"And with a smell like that, they're not very appetizing. Especially that black creature right there!"_

KITT was making his WHOO WHOO sound as he was obviously scanning the sharptooth's roars and growls in an effort to interpret the language.

"What was that all about!?" Michael asked.

Chomper looked apologetic. "You must forgive my mate. Her flattooth is not very good. She can understand most of it, but the only word she knows how to speak is 'hello', and she sometimes says it pretty badly... But I AM trying to teach her..."

"So what did she say?" Bonnie asked.

Chomper looked embarrassed. "Let's just say that she doesn't find you very... 'appealing'... to her more... 'discriminating tastes'..."

"Well THAT'S comforting!" Bonnie said under her breath.

"Tell her we wanna be her friends, more than anything." Michael pressed.

Chomper nodded and turned to his mate. _"They are here as your friends."_

V'Leck nodded. _"Any friends of the flattooth are friends of mine."_

Chomper smiled then brought V'leck closer to the humans. "Please meet V'Leck. My life mate!"

"Hi." Michael said shyly as he flashed a nervous smile and waved at the imposing female sharptooth.

V'Leck bent her head down to face the humans and flashed a smile. "Ello..." she was heard saying.

WHOO WHOOO. _"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ma'am."_

V'Leck was surprised. _"You speak sharptooth!!?"_

"I'm still attempting to decipher the language. I'm afraid that's all I got for now, but I intend to be fluent with it." KITT said.

Chomper rumbled laughter. "Will wonders never cease! I can't wait to introduce you to my son and his mate!"

"Wait! You have a son???" Michael asked in surprise.

"And he has a mate???" Bonnie also asked in surprise.

"Oh, yes! They live at the other end of The Great Valley." Alaina chimed in.

"But you don't look THAT old..." Bonnie said.

"We had him while we were still quite young. I had barely reached by adulthood when I met V'Leck and we had Roary... That's what we named him..." Chomper said.

"Wow!" Bonnie said, astonished.

"Come on, Bonnie. It's like a man and a woman having a kid when they're eighteen. It's not uncommon."

"Not only that, but he's ALSO had a son; which means that we're also GRANDPARENTS!" Chomper said with a smile.

"Let me guess: He had his own kid when HE turned eighteen!" Michael said.

Chomper blinked. "If you mean as soon as he reached adulthood, yes. We sharptooth normally don't waste time with these sorts of things."

"I guess meeting Roary and his mate is the last stop on this reunion tour. It's getting late, too; and we should allow you to get aquainted with he and his family before the bright circle goes down."

"Good idea, Lesik!" Chomper said.

"Okay, let's go!" Lesik said as he led the way to Roary's lair at the other side of The Great Valley.

* * *

On the way there, Chomper asked about their other two human friends: Devon Miles and "Are See". That's when Michael shared with them the sad news that Devon died under tragic circumstances where an evil man was involved, but Michael himself would later confront the man to bring him to justice, only to be forced to kill him when he wouldn't surrender to the authorities. In a twist of fate, Michael avenged Devon's death.

He said he hadn't heard too much about "Are See" lately. Last he knew he had taken a "mate" and moved back to his home "territory".

Michael couldn't put his finger on it at first; but the more and more he heard Chomper talking; he realized that he sounded just like Rene Auberjonois, another character actor he had seen in many movies and TV shows. Like the actor, whom French was his first language, Michael thought he heard a bit of an accent in Chomper's flattooth, as it was obviously not HIS first language.

They soon arrive at Roary's lair, which was located in an isolated area of The Great Valley. The cave where he lived was surrounded by forest and long grass.

Chomper roared in the direction of the cave. A replying roar was heard from the inside, and the sound of stomping footfalls could be heard drawing nearer. Pretty soon, a sharptooth who looked very much like Chomper emerged from the cave. This sharptooth was a bit smaller than Chomper, his father; but still slightly bigger than his mother.

The two of them exchanged more roars and growls before he turned his attention towards the gathered group.

Michael was hesitant. "Uhh... Does he speak flat tooth?"

The young male sharptooth bent down to face Michael. "Of COURSE I speak flattooth." Roary chuckled. "My father taught me everything I know about the language from a very young age."

"Well... I'm Michael Knight... This is my mate Bonnie... and KITT..."

WHOO WHOOO. _"Greetings, young Roary! Well met!" _KITT said in perfect sharptooth, which greatly surprised Roary.

"My father's told me all about you... But I've always imagined the three of you looking... well... taller! At least as tall as Ruby over there... Tell me, are you of average height, for hyoo mahns?"

Before Michael or Bonnie could answer, a noise was heard from behind Roary.

"Roary! Who's here? Oh! My, MY! I've never had so many visitors all at once..." the light grey threehorn as she came up beside Roary.

"Myk'l, Bah-nee, Kit... I'd like you to meet Trinity... my life mate..." Roary smiled as he laid a clawed hand on the threehorn female's upper back.

Michael and Bonnie grew wide eyed as they looked up to Lesik. "You never told us Chomper's son became mates with a threehorn!"

Lesik chuckled. "I figured I'd let it be a surprise."

"So... does this mean that their kid is a..." Bonnie started to ask, but her question was cut short by the sound of growling at Roary's feet.

She was astonished, as was Michael, at the strange looking young dino just standing there. It had the obvious body and head of a threehorn, but the jaws and the tail of a sharptooth. The colour of it was a mixture of dark grey in the threehorn parts and olive green in the sharptooth parts.

Roary smiled. "My friends, I'd like you to meet Bitey, my son..."

WHOO WHOOO. "Now I've seen EVERYTHING!" KITT commented.

Michael knelt in front of the diminutive threehorn/sharptooth hybrid and moved in to pet the young one. "Hey, buddy! How are you?"

"BE CAREFUL!" Trinity cried just as Bitey chomped at Michael's hand. Michael took his hand away before Bitey could chomp down on it.

"Now you see why we call him 'Bitey'." Roary said as he smiled uneasily. "We ARE teaching him to be nicer to strangers, however. My apologies."

"It's okay... Thanks for the warning..." Michael said.

"You're luckier than my mother." Trinity said. "Bit her tail first time she looked after the poor kid! Swore she'd never babysit our 'impolite runt' again!" She rolled her eyes.

"But you know mom..." Wendyk said. "She'll get over it..."

That's when Michael and Bonnie realized that Trinity and Wendyk were brother and sister. Trinity looked younger than Wendyk, which means that she came from a different clutch than her brother. Bonnie imagined that when Roary took Trinity as his life mate, it must've caused quite a ruckus in the family, on both sides, at first; but everybody seems gratefully accepting of one another. Of course, they haven't met Trinity and Wendyk's parents yet, assuming that they are living in The Great Valley.

"Now that you're acquainted with everyone" Lesik said to the trio. "This calls for a celebration!"

"And I think I know just how to celebrate our joyous reunion! Is that lava flow still there?"

It took a few moment for Lesik to realize what Michael was referring to. "OH! Why yes, it is!"

"Then an old fashioned barbecue is in order!! With campfire stories and songs afterwards?"

"We should set up camp first, before it gets too dark..." Bonnie reminded her husband.

"Ooh... Right! Uhh, Lesik, you do remember that we like to sleep in a TENT while we're out CAMPING, right?"

After a few moments, Lesik finally understood what Michael meant. "Oh! Right! Uhh... Where would you like to set up your.... khhamp?"

"Uhm..." Michael thought. "Maybe over by your nest. I think it's the closest to the lava flow..."

"That it is! All right... I'll give you leave to prepare your sleeping area for the night, and we'll reconvene at the ground fire crack when the bright circle is setting."

With that, the band dispersed. The threesome from the future already knew the way back to Lesik's nest. Michael and Bonnie both got in KITT who them sped off to their camping area for this one night, at least.


	6. Chapter 6 The Migration Begins

**CHAPTER 6**

**THE MIGRATION BEGINS**

That evening, the whole gang gathered around the crack in the ground where the underlying lava flow let loose a warmth that was quite similar to a campfire.

While the flattooth brought along their choice of greens; Ruby and Sergiak brought some leftover fish from their afternoon fishing session with Slooper; Chomper, V'Leck and Roary brought some leftover mammal meat from recent hunts; Michael and Bonnie brought their own foodstuffs for a traditional camping out: Hot dogs, hamburgers, beverages and smores.

Chomper remembered what these hot dogs tasted from the last time Michael and Bonnie came to The Great Valley. The aroma was what triggered that memory. He didn't bother helping himself to any of the ones the humans brought. Having grown to a 20 foot tall multi ton beast, hot dogs were nothing more than a crumb to him. Besides, he'd getting more than his fill of the meat he and his mate have brought for this very occasion.

Roary thought the aroma of the cooking hot dogs and hamburgers meat was pretty enticing, but abstained from asking for any of it feeling that cooking any meat would only spoil it; but if the hyoo-mahns liked their meat that way, so be it.

The more Michael heard Roary talk, the more he was reminded of someone he'd heard before. Then he remembered seeing a movie called "Transformers" a few years ago. What struck him the most was the fact that it was so much unlike the mid 80s cartoon he had seen on occasion! He was totally amazed by the computer animated robot characters in that movie! However, that movie also featured a brilliant young actor called Shia Leboeuf, who's character befriended the robots in that movie. That's when it struck Michael: Roary sounded almost exactly like that young actor!! Michael felt, though, that that wasn't the last such "celebrity voice" he'd hear among the dinos!

Michael tried to feed Bitey a hot dog. He chewed on it a few times, then spat it out with an expression of revulsion on his facial features. Everybody laughed at this. "I guess hot dogs are an acquired taste for dinos!" Michael jokingly commented.

Most of the night was spent chatting about old times and recent events, with some traditional singing mixed in. Michael, Bonnie and KITT met up with Wendyk and Trinity's parents, now considered honoured elders of the herd. The male's name was Korkum, and the female's name was Trixia. They moved into The Great Valley soon after Wendyk became mates with Cera in the hopes that they could spend time with any grandchildren the pair might give birth to. Needless to say, they were not disappointed.

They had a little bit harder time accepting their youngest daughter Trinity's choice of life mates, but after learning that Roary was the nicest sharptooth male they ever come across, and that Trinity really loved him, they came to accept him as a part of their extended family. When their son Bitey hatched, Trixia and Korkum made it a point to get to know their unusual grandson. It wasn't easy, at first, though; Bitey kept acting defensive, and attempted to bite the paws of his grandparents every time they approached him. But Roary coaxed his son into accepting the elderly threehorn couple as his grandparents, and that they only have the best of intentions for him. Bitey finally came around to accepting them as his own grandparents.

Chomper would tell the story of how he would eventually come to defeat Red Claw and become the new most fearsome sharptooth in The Mysterious Beyond. It all came to a head one day when Red Claw tried to take V'leck, Chomper's life mate, away from him and claim her as his own.

Chomper would end up fighting Red Claw to the death. His fast biter henchdinos, Screech and Thud, tried to intervene, but V'leck took them on. The three of them had aged, and were not as strong as they used to be. The young and much stronger duo had to kill the three sharpteeth before they could kill them. Since then, they've gained the reputation of being the most ruthless sharpteeth in The Mysterious Beyond, and no one dared approach them. It's a legacy Roary may have to take over someday, but Chomper decided to let him make his own choice in the matter, when the time came.

When the grown ups noticed that their kids were yawning, or walking around sleepily, Lesik called a halt to the gathering for the rest of the night so everybody could go home to their nests and get some sleep. Michael and Bonnie retired shortly afterwards, but not without thanking Lesik and his family for their hospitality and the wonderful evening they've had.

KITT decided to play his role as protector and stand guard in front of Michael and Bonnie's tent, keeping his scanners peeled for any dangers that may be lurking about; though this was really unnecessary, as the two giants longnecks Lesik and Ali were there, ready to jump into action at a moment's notice of anything dangerous in the area.

* * *

The next day was basically free time for the trio from the future. They could make like it was a real vacation and do whatever they please.

The night before, though, was a bit rough. The recurring dream they had before coming to The Great Valley came back with a vengeance! Michael was woken up a few times in the middle of the night. With partial cloudy conditions that hid the moonlight occasionally, it was pitch black at times! The humans slept in a little that morning, only actually rising an hour after the sun rose.

When they told Lesik about the dream, he admitted that he got the exact same dream; which meant to him that the longneck migration had to start, and start soon. He decided to convene a meeting for that evening at the speaking circle where everyone was invited, including the trio from the future.

For the day, however, they made the most of their free time in The Great Valley. Michael decided to try his hand at fishing by the river. The dinos were quite intrigued by the fishing pole Michael had brought with him. When they asked him about it, he simply said that this was what humans used to help them catch fish, or "fast swimmers". The dinos were quick to understand.

Ruby and Sergiak joined him, along with Slooper; whom Alaina and Petrie had asked to babysit again for the day while they looked after other matters. Ruby would have Slooper fish again for her and her mate. Slooper didn't mind, however; to him, it was all a game.

When the little swimmer/flyer hybrid saw what Michael was doing, he grabbed one of the fish he'd caught, sauntered over to where Michael was sitting, and dropped the fish at Michael's side, and looked up at him, smiling.

Michael smiled back at the little dino, picked up the fish and handed it back to him. "Thanks for the offer, kid; but that takes the fun out of it."

Slooper had a questioning look.

"YOU caught this fish, YOU deserve to keep it. I prefer to catch my own." Michael said, enticing Slooper to take back the fish he just handed him.

Slooper simply shrugged, took the fish from Michael's grasp and brought it back to the pile he had accumulated thusfar.

"You could've made a great father, if you had fathered any children of your own." Ruby commented.

"Maybe..." Michael muttered as he recast his line in the fast moving water.

"Slooper likes you!" Ruby said.

"I'm glad... because I certainly wouldn't wanna make any enemies here..." Michael commented.

They would spend the rest of the afternoon chatting about all sorts of things while Michael caught a few fish with his pole and line.

* * *

While this was going on, Bonnie had chosen to join a group of female dinos while they gathered food for this evening's meal. They would spend the entire afternoon talking about female stuff. Nothing too extraordinary there.

Meanwhile, KITT decided to do some "off roading" in The Mysterious beyond under the careful guidance of Chomper. The big T-rex lead the way down various trails he had walked himself many times before. KITT took his time negotiating his way around the various mounds and rock crevasses that made up the trails. He knew that if he went too fast, he'd run the risk of toppling himself down a steep embankment, and he'd be done for.

Roary had joined the duo this day, leaving his mate to look after young Bitey. Roary followed KITT from behind, making sure the khar was not in any trouble or danger.

On the way back, Roary challenged KITT to a race back through a different trail he knew quite well. Not wanting to disappoint the young male sharptooth, KITT took up the challenge. Roary took off quickly. KITT couldn't go too fast around the twisting narrow turns of the trail. The gravel terrain made it that much more difficult to gain traction. KITT knew that if he went too fast, he's run the risk of crashing into a stone wall or large rock. On the final straightaway, though, KITT put on a final burst of speed and ended up narrowly beating Roary. Chomper, who was running behind them, trying to keep up, finally arrived a few minutes later panting quite heavily and commenting that he wasn't as young as he used to be.

* * *

All in all, it was a fun day to be had by all.

After the evening meal, everyone gathered at the speaking circle so that Lesik could make his announcement. After speaking to several longnecks about it earlier today, he decided that he had to start the Great Longneck Migration, the second one in his life, to "that special place far away"; and he and all of the longnecks of The Great Valley had to undertake this migration as early as tomorrow morning at dawn.

This brought a few mutterings among the gathered dinos. The non longnecks who were Lesik's closest friends insisted that they accompany them on the migration. Any other longneck would've refused outright, but Lesik agreed; wanting to allow his friends to experience the Great Longneck Migration for themselves; as chances are, there would not be another one for a very long time.

Some gasps erupted from the crowd when Lesik announced that the hyoo-mahns and Khit would also be accompanying them on the migration. Lesik immediately answered the dinos who asked "why?" by saying that they've been having the same sleep story as all of the longnecks in The Great Valley, and that was why they came here in the first place: To experience this migration for themselves. Everyone eventually accepted Lesik's decision to have the trio from the future join in on the migration.

The most controvertial non longneck members to go on the migration were Chomper, V'leck, Roary; and Roary's son, Bitey. Many felt that, as sharpteeth, they should not be a part of The Great Longneck Migration. Not because they were sharpteeth, but rather to avoid them getting attacked or killed by longnecks who did not know them as friends like they did. Their opposition to this inclusion was more for the protection of the sharpteeth friends of The Great Valley. Lesik, however, sensing that the sharpteeth would have more longnecks who would be there to protect them more than there would be longnecks who would wish to do him harm, decided to allow Chomper and his extended family to be a part of the migration, in the end.

Since Trixia and Korkum decided not to come, Lesik put them in charge of the affairs of the valley while they were gone. Soon after, the meeting was adjourned so that everyone could retire for the evening and get some rest before tomorrow's journey.

* * *

The next morning, everyone met at the speaking circle before departure. In all, there were three hundred and thirty-four longnecks, or the entire longneck population of The Great Valley. Nobody actually knew how many longnecks there were until KITT actually decided to count them. The few non longnecks who were Lesik's closest lifelong friends were also there; as were their families; and finally, Michael, Bonnie and KITT.

Some non longnecks were there as well to send off the longnecks, who were their dear friends, and wish them a safe return. The group soon took off with Lesik, Ali, and their two children in the lead; moving in an Easterly direction towards the rising sun. Their numerous footfalls literally shook the ground as they headed out, and the sound echoed all throughout the land. They figured it should take them two days to get there, and then it would be a waiting game to find out the purpose of them getting there to begin with.


	7. Chapter 7 The Journey There

**CHAPTER 7**

**THE JOURNEY THERE**

Lesik led his herd of migrating longnecks steadily onward towards their ultimate destination. Everybody knew which way to go, it was just a matter of getting there. The longnecks following Lesik and his family fell behind the non longnecks, especially Chomper and his kin. Not that they didn't trust the big sharptooth and family, but simply as a precautionary measure in case they would get hungry, and they can keep an eye on them while they fed on... well... anything but a longneck.

KITT was right next to Alicia and Bron junior as they followed their parents. It was decided that he and his human companions always be kept in the front of the migration behind their leader, in case he got into trouble, and the herd would be right there to help him.

"You know, Michael... If it were up to me, I'd lead this entire herd at our destination in less than a day!" KITT commented.

"Come on, KITT! This is a vacation, not a race! Besides, at twenty five miles her hour, we're maintaining a good pace..." Michael said as he glanced down at KITT's digital speedometer.

"But that's like moving at a snail's pace for me!" KITT said with a hint of a complaining tone in his voice. "NOT very exciting... I could run rings around these lumbering longnecks EASILY."

"What's unexciting about all this!? I mean, look at this scenery! It's enough to take your breath away!!" Michael said as he gestured towards the mountain range off in the distance. "Besides, they can't overexert themselves... They have a long trip ahead of them." As this conversation was going on, Bonnie remained silent as she took several pictures with her digital camera. She had gotten used to the banter between the two males in her life a long time ago.

"That's understood, Michael; but I've already scanned the landscape... It's filled with the predictable dense forests and cascading mountains... Nothing new THERE..." KITT said.

"Tell you what..." Michael said as he grew more serious. "Why don't you put on a little music, and you can retreat back into your hard drive and play a game of Pac-Man, or something..."

"Certainly, Michael... What would you like to hear?"

"How 'bout a little Boston to start off? Say... 'Long Time', in honour of this migration? What do you think, dear?" Michael asked as he turned to Bonnie.

"Sounds like a plan!" she said.

KITT started playing the song over his stereo speakers. It was, in fact, that famous Boston song, complete with the instrumental intro called "Foreplay". It was loud enough to be heard by most of the dinos within 200 feet from KITT. They looked at each other curiously as they heard the rhythmic melodies of the song. Michael and Bonnie had programmed a large library of songs into KITT's memory banks. They somehow felt they would need it, at some point in their journey. They were glad that they weren't mistaken!

Petrie, who was perched atop Lesik's head, turned around when he heard the music playing. Curious, he took flight and glided down towards KITT. "Where you going, Petrie?" Lesik asked as he noticed his flyer friend taking off. Petrie didn't hear. He was too intrigued by the strange sounds emanating from KITT.

He landed on the roof and bent down to face Michael through his lowered driver's side window.

"What's that?" Petrie asked him.

"THAT is rock and roll, my flyer friend!" Michael said with a broad grin. He had his sunglasses on and was just relaxing as he drove casually. Petrie had seen him and Bonnie wearing the sunglasses all day yesterday, so he wasn't surprised to see his human friend wearing them again once he learned that they were meant to protect their sensitive eyes from the brightness of the bright circle.

Petrie look puzzled. "That doesn't sound like a rock rolling to me..."

Michael laughed heartily. "It's not supposed to! It's a song! Like the ones we sang around the lava flow last night..."

Petrie nodded. "I get it now! Did you make this song up?"

"No... but a very famous group of humans among my people did! Matter of fact, it's one of their most popular songs! It tells the story about travelling to far away places. If you listen closely to it, you'll see that I'm right."

Petrie did just that. He understood what Myk'l meant when he heard the part where the singer say he was "Taking his time and just moving along", but he wasn't sure about the part of where he'll "forget about him after he's been gone". Petrie just shrugged and accepted the mixed up words as part of the song.

"So what do you think, Petrie? Does it make you feel GOOD!?" Michael grinned.

"It's making me feel SOMETHING... I don't know if it's GOOD, but I do know I LIKE it!" Petrie smiled.

Michael laughed. "We'll make a rock and roller out of you yet!!"

"I don't know about that..." Petrie said, a little confused.

Michael turned to Bonnie. "I think it's warm enough now. What say we pop the roof?"

"Yes! Please do!" Bonnie responded.

"Heads up, Petrie!" Michael warned as he pressed the button marked "C" on the dashboard to lower KITT's roof. Petrie immediately hovered overtop KITT as his convertible roof retracted into the compartment behind the back seat. It was sunny and warm enough to warrant a little bit of open air riding with the top down.

"I remember Khit being able to lower his dome like this!" Petrie said as he settled himself onto KITT's trunk. "This is MUCH better!!"

Another Boston song came through on KITT's speakers. With the top down, the song carried over to other longnecks farther back in the herd. They, too, were somewhat perplexed at the sounds they heard, but figured it must be some more of the strange calls the black creature known as Khit was making. Meanwhile, bonnie kept taking pictures with her digital camera.

* * *

The migrating herd eventually arrived at a rocky ledge alongside a mountain range. The ledge was so narrow that most of the larger longnecks had to walk across it in single file. At one point, Lesik looked back to see if Khit was able to get past a mound of boulders. Although he could easily walk over this obstacle, he wasn't sure if the much smaller Khit would be able to negotiate his way over it. The steady drone of his engine could be heard as Khit slowly rolled up and over the rocks, and came down on the opposite side. His two children followed closely behind.

Lesik smiled as he bent down to face Khit. "I honestly didn't think you could get over that pile of rocks without help."

WHOO WHOOO. "You've obviously forgotten how skilled I am at off roading..."

Lesik chuckled. "Indeed, Khit! Indeed!!"

"Hey! What's the holdup!?" A longneck from behind him shouted.

Lesik glanced back to view the halted column of longnecks anxiously waiting to move forward. Without saying a word, he raised his head back up and moved forward again.

* * *

By mid afternoon, the herd had reached a heavily wooded area. They were all stopped at the foot of the entryway into this dark looking terrain. KITT had just completed his scans of this forest.

"The foliage in that region is quite dense, and it's heavily swamped. I'm afraid not even my turbo boost could get us safely through..." KITT announced as he showed a layout of the area on his dashboard monitor.

"Hmmm..." Lesik was pensive. "I suppose I could carry you through... You're not too big to be unable to fit on my back..."

"But I don't want KITT's weight to bear down on you... He'd only slow you down..." Michael protested.

"Then what do you suggest, Myk'l?" Chomper asked as he was listening in on the conversation.

Michael fingered KITT's steering wheel as he pondered. "KITT... display a layout of the area surrounding the swamps..."

KITT showed a map that indicated the region surrounding the swamp forest that looked to be fairly open.

"We'll go around it!" Michael decided.

"I don't think that's a good idea!" Lesik said. "It'll take us three days to go around the swamp forest! If we go through it, we'll each the other side by the time the bright circle disappears over the horizon; and we need to reach our migration place as quickly as we can."

"Do you think we can really make it through?" Bron asked.

Lesik nodded. "Positive! I've done it before with my grandparents... It's not without peril, though... Just watch your step..."

Bron knew his son was referring to belly dragger sharpteeth. He remembered he was almost caught by one of them. If it weren't for a helpful rogue female longneck, he certainly would've died.

"But Myk'l..." Lesik began as he turned his attention towards him. "You sure you, Khit and Bah-knee won't follow us into the swamp? It actually won't be too much trouble carrying you across..."

"Thanks for the offer, Lesik; but KITT's fast enough that he can go around and make it to the opposite end by sundown..." Michael insisted.

Lesik was perplexed. "Can he really do that!?"

Michael smiled up at the longneck. "You've forgotten how fast KITT really is! Trust me!!" He then got into the driver's seat. "See you on the other side!!" Michael waved as KITT sped off and disappeared around a bend.

Still baffled, Lesik shrugged and turned to face his herd. "All right! Let's not waste any more time! Follow me!!" he said as he led the way into the dark, dense swampy forest.

Meanwhile, KITT was moving along quite rapidly through the flat dusty terrain bordering the swamp forest.

"All right, KITT! Time to activate your SUPER PURSUIT MODE!!" Michael announced as he pressed the green button behind the panel that just opened for him. This prompted the metamorphosis of KITT's outer chassis. He took off like a bullet once it was complete, pushing Michael and Bonnie into their respective seats. KITT's digital speedometer kept climbing until he finally topped off at 250 Miles Per Hour. It was all smooth sailing onto the other side of the swamp forest where they were supposed to meet up with Lesik and his longneck herd.

* * *

It was exactly sunset by the time Lesik and the longneck herd arrived at the other side of the swamp forest. He was surprised to see a smiling Michael sitting atop KITT's hood with his arms crossed waiting to greet him at the exit point.

"What took you guys so long!? I was beginning to think you'd NEVER get here!" Michael teased.

Lesik smiled and bent his head down to face Michael. "You were right, Myk'l! I HAVE forgotten how fast Khit REALLY is! We would've made it out sooner, but we had some difficulty..."

"Belly draggers?" Michael half asked.

Lesik nodded. "But nothing that Chomper couldn't handle..." he said as he glanced at the sharptooth, who flashed a broad toothy grin. "We've also had a couple of incidents where some of the younger longneck children got lost."

"But everybody's okay, right?" Michael asked.

Lesik smiled and nodded. Michael smiled in acknowledgement.

This was where Lesik called a halt to the march for the evening. Soon after dinner, everybody bedded down for the night. Michael and Bonnie didn't bother setting up the tent, seeing as they'll be moving at the crack of dawn the next morning. They simply brought out their sleeping bags and slept under the stars right next to KITT, who kept a vigil all night as their protector and their friend.

* * *

The next day was pretty uneventful. After crossing through a plain and a high plateau area, they arrived at another forested area that wasn't as dense or as swampy as the last one, according to KITT's scans; so he could safely negotiate this terrain along with the longnecks.

Towards the middle of this forested area, they came across a fast moving river. Lesik could see that it was pretty deep; so deep, that it came up to his underbelly! Therefore, he would have to carry his two children on his back, as they would easily be swept away by the current, should they try to swim across. The other longneck parents would have to do the same. Same goes for his non longneck friends for their children.

"Looks like Khit's going to have to ride on someone THIS time..." Lesik said to Michael, who was standing next to him. "Uhh... Ali, would you..."

"Boy, you've REALLY forgotten what KITT can do, have you?" Michael interrupted with a smile and a shake of his head.

Lesik was confused. "Huh!?"

"Back it up, KITT!" Michael ordered as he got back into the driver's seat.

As soon as Michael closed the driver's side door, KITT kicked up dirt and grass as he backed himself up about 100 feet back from the river.

"Is this far back enough, KITT?" Michael asked as KITT came to a stop.

"MORE than enough, Michael!" KITT said in answer.

"Okay, let's GUN IT!" Michael exclaimed as he pressed on the accelerator. KITT kicked up more dirt and grass as he sped towards the river. Many of the watching longnecks were perplexed, or gasped at seeing what KITT and the humans were trying to do. Many cries of "Are they crazy!?" or "He's gonna kill himself!" were heard as KITT's speed increased as he approached the riverbank. His digital speedometer showed an ever increasing number as he continued to accelerate.

"Turbo boost NOW!!" Michael exclaimed as he pressed the appropriate button on KITT's dashboard console. KITT instantly leapt into the air under the sound of an explosion of air. Many of the longnecks were in awe as they watched KITT fly over the rushing water and land on the other side. They gasped as KITT bounced a few times as he landed on the grassy ground on the other side of the river.

Inside KITT's cockpit, Michael and Bonnie were being jostled around as the landing was made. "Oh my GOD! I forgot how ROUGH those landings could be!!" Bonnie exclaimed as she recovered from the shock.

"You okay, KITT?" Michael asked.

"None the worse for wear, Michael! I think that was the riskiest jump I've ever done!" KITT said.

"I agree, buddy. Let's hope you don't have to do ANOTHER one." Michael said, still breathing a bit heavily.

"ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!?" they heard Lesik shouting at them, sounding genuinely concerned.

Michael lowered his driver's side window and stuck his head out towards Lesik. "A little winded, but we're fine!"

Michael could hear Lesik breathe a sigh of relief. "Stay there! We're on our way!!" He ordered.

"Okay..." Michael said as he ducked back inside KITT.

They continued onwards through the forest until the sun started to set, and it got too dark to continue. Lesik called another halt to the migration when they reached an area where the entire herd can lie down comfortably for the night. Fearing the numerous insects and small animals wanting to come and take a bite out of them, Michael and Bonnie decided to sleep inside KITT. They took out their pillows and some blankets from KITT's trunk, and made themselves as comfortable as they could. The sky became so cloudy, that it blocked out the light of the moon; thus making the entire area pitch black. It was so dark, that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face!

The sounds of nocturnal animals resounded throughout the forest. The snoring sounds of the sleeping longnecks could also be heard, but Michael and Bonnie were pretty well insulated from the sounds inside KITT. They eventually fell asleep holding each other as they stretched out in KITT's backseat. KITT himself kept his scanners peeled the whole night, keeping his usual vigil. Many of the nocturnal mammals were curious as to this strange red light they saw on this strange "dinosaur", and the even stranger rhythmic "sleeping sound" it made; but they didn't dare approach more than a few feet away or so. Good thing they didn't, because KITT would've certainly gotten rid of them, if they got too close.


	8. Chapter 8 Paradise Found

**CHAPTER 8**

**PARADISE FOUND**

Everyone rose bright and early the next day. They continued on their trek shortly after breakfast. They all sensed that they were getting close. VERY close!

By mid afternoon, they had arrived at a particularly dense part of the forest. They could see other longneck herds all around them moving in the same direction. That's when they knew they were headed the right way: Always steadily East!

Lesik's herd eventually took the lead with the other longneck herds falling behind. At one point, they stopped at a particularly dense part of the forest. It was so thick with underbrush that nobody could see more than 20 feet past the green stuff!

"Can you pick up anything, KITT?" Michael asked. He had ordered KITT to try using his scanners to penetrate through the thick underbrush to see if there was an opening a bit further on.

"Negative, Michael!" KITT announced with regret. "My scanners can't get past the dense undergrowth. There's too much interference..."

Lesik looked disappointed.

"So what do we do now?" Alaina, who was standing right next to them, asked.

"Hmmm..." Lesik thought as he gazed up over his head. "Petrie, can you fly up there to see what's ahead?"

"No!" Petrie answered. "There's no way I can get past all of the leaves and the branches that are up there! Sorry!"

Lesik sighed, glanced down at Michael, then he had a brainstorm. "Myk'l..." he began as he bent his head down to face his human friend. "How good a climber are you?"

Michael pursed his lips. He already knew what Lesik wanted him to do. "I've done some mountain climbing when I was younger, but not for awhile..."

"Is it too much to ask for you to..." he rolled his eyes skyward. "It would help us a great deal..."

Michael nodded. "I can give it a try."

Lesik smiled. "Thanks, Myk'l! I owe you one!" Then he lowered his head to the ground. "I'll lift you up to a higher branch, then you do the rest..."

Michael climbed up onto the top of Lesik's head and lay himself flat on his belly. He told Lesik not to move until he said so. "Okay. I'm ready!" he said after he got himself settled. Lesik then raised his head slowly. "Not too fast now!" Michael urged.

"Be careful, Michael!" Bonnie shouted up to him.

Lesik had to stretch his neck to its full length in order to reach a large enough branch that could support Michael's weight. He reached up and climbed up onto the branch.

"Try to get all the way up to the top, and tell me what you see." Lesik said.

"What am I supposed to look for?" Michael asked.

Lesik pondered a moment. "A great stone wall in the form of a circle." Lesik remembered exactly what it looked like. When he was little, and was still known as Little Foot, he had climbed up a similar tree to break through the forest canopy and guide his grandparents over to the great stone circle where all the longnecks would gather. He wanted Michael to do the same.

It took Michael nearly ten minutes to reach the top of the huge tree. Although he shared a common ancestry with apes, he lacked their dexterity and their agility. Lesik shouted up at him periodically, inquiring about his progress. Michael would shout back that he was still climbing, and commented that he wasn't as young as he used to be. Lesik replied back to take his time, and that the last thing he wanted was to have him fall to his death.

Michael grunted as he kept pulling himself up closer to the top. "I'M ALMOST THERE!" Michael shouted down towards the herd.

"Okay!" he heard Lesik shout from below. "When you reach the top, tell me what you see!"

Michael finally broke through the top of the forest canopy. He could see something off in the distance, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. He had brought his binoculars with him, and used them to get a closer look at what he initially saw with his naked eyes. "DID YOU SAY A GREAT STONE WALL IN THE SHAPE OF A CIRCLE!!?" he shouted down to Lesik.

"Yes!" Lesik shouted up to him.

"THEN I THINK WE'RE ALMOST THERE! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'M LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW!"

Michael DID, in fact, see a great stone circle off in the distance. He also saw longnecks climb the slopes of the stone wall to get inside the circle. Michael figured there must be more green area inside that circle, and perhaps drinkable water.

"How far away!?" Lesik shouted.

"ABOUT 20 MILES DUE EAST!! THE AREA SEEMS PRETTY CLEAR! THE FOREST CANOPY ENDS ABOUT 5 MILES FROM WHERE WE ARE NOW, AND THEN IT'S NOTHING BUT OPEN CLEARING UNTIL WE REACH THE STONE CIRCLE!"

"Okay! Climb back down!" Lesik ordered. Michael did just that.

It actually took him twice as long to come back down then it did to climb up. He had to let himself slide down smaller branches, at times, for climbing down them the opposite way would've surely sent him plummeting. He finally arrived at the high branch Lesik initially lifted him up to, and saw Lesik waiting there to escort him back down to the forest floor. He climbed down onto his forehead and allowed himself to be lowered back down where a relieved Bonnie was waiting to greet him.

Then it was a matter of breaking through the thick underbrush to make it out of the dense forest. Lesik cleared a path for KITT, who followed behind; while the other longnecks cleared their own path. Lesik's non longneck friends preferred to follow him and KITT as he cleared the way.

* * *

About an hour later, they reached the great stone wall of the stone circle. KITT followed the longnecks up the slope to the top. The terrain was a bit treacherous, but not treacherous enough for KITT to not be able to gain traction.

Once they reached the top, they stopped to gaze upon the scene. Michael was so awed by what he saw that he had to get out of KITT's driver's seat and take off his sunglasses to get a better look at the scene. Bonnie couldn't help but take pictures of the scenery, and of the multiple longnecks already relaxing near the big lake in the middle of the circle forest.

"Look at this place! It's a PARADISE!!" he said almost to himself.

It's true that what he was looking at was a virtual oasis in itself. He could see a grand lake at the middle of stone circle, which was surrounded by numerous trees and long grass. He could also see the several longnecks down by the lake already, resting.

He smiled as he got back into KITT's driver's seat. "Adam and Eve couldn't've picked a better spot..." he said.

"WILL pick a better spot..." Bonnie replied. They looked at each other and grinned.

The steady drone of KITT's engine could be heard as Michael eased him down the opposite slope and into this virtual garden of Eden.

* * *

For the rest of the afternoon, all of the longnecks of Lesik's herd were intermingling with the longnecks of the other herds. For many of them, it was reuniting with long lost relatives or distant relations.

But things didn't go that smoothly for everyone, however. Chomper and his family had a tough time getting into the stone circle. Several longnecks tried to chase him and his sharptooth family away. Lesik and a few other longnecks of his herd had to intervene to prevent any of the more aggressive longnecks from attacking poor Chomper. Chomper didn't really wanna kill anyone, but he was well prepared to fight to the death, if push came to shove. Lesik finally convinced the longnecks taunting Chomper that he was here as a friend and not as a random sharptooth looking for his next meal, and they let he and his sharptooth family into the stone circle.

No one other than the non longnecks and a few trusting longnecks from Lesik's herd dared come near Chomper, however. He would've loved to meet and chat with the strange longnecks from far and wide; but if they wouldn't come near him, it was a pointless exercise. He simply stayed with those whom he knew were his lifelong friends.

Not far from there, Michael and Bonnie were setting up their camp. Lesik was admiring them pitching up their tent. "I find it amazing that such a fragile looking structure is capable of protecting you from things like sky water..." he commented.

Michael smiled up to him. "Just one of the many results of human innovation, my longneck friend!"

Lesik nodded. "Of course! Another one of your... in... What did you call it again?"

"Inventions!" Michael said slowly.

Lesik smiled. "I don't think I'll ever get used to some of your hyoo-mahn terms... Hard to believe that creatures as frail looking as yourselves will take over the world someday... Yet you haven't really said what would happen to us..."

Michael and Bonnie looked uneasy.

"... I mean... it doesn't sound like there are any longnecks... or swimmers, sharpteeth, fast runners, and the rest... in your time..."

Michael hesitated. "The truth is: No one really knows..." Michael lied.

"You'd think that creatures as resilient as us would be right there with you hyoo-mahns, living side by side... but were not... so something MUST'VE happened!"

_He's still forever curious. _Michael thought to himself sadly.

"I oughta go refill these canteens with water!" Michael said uneasily as he changed the subject. Then he reached for the two water canisters they had with them.

"I'm a bit thirsty myself. I'll go with you..."

Michael sighed inwardly. "Sure, Lesik." He said, not meeting his gaze. Instead, he turned to Bonnie. She saw that look and recognized it instantly. She shared his uneasiness.

"You guys go ahead. I've gotta get dinner ready anyways." She said as she reached for the cooler inside KITT's trunk and opened it to get some foodstuffs out.

The two males then made their way to the nearby lake.

They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Then Lesik couldn't hold back the question that was burning inside of him any longer. "So what DID happen to us, Myk'l? If you DO know, please tell me!"

"I TOLD you: Nobody knows!!" Michael said with some irritation.

Lesik bent his head down to face the human he had come to accept as a dear friend. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, Myk'l; but you know me, and how curious I can be..."

"Yeah... but we have an old saying: Curiosity killed the cat... or in this case, the longneck..."

"I see..." Lesik said.

Michael sighed. "It's just theories, really... and it happened way before we ever walked this earth..."

Lesik nodded. "Was your kind with all it's... in-van-shiuns... able to establish WHEN this grand catastrophe happened?"

Michael was actually surprised to head his big longneck friend say that. Michael knew he had no idea how close he was to what he really knew was the truth. "No." Michael lied again. "but whatever it was, I don't think it's gonna happen soon... not at THIS time, anyways..."

Lesik sighed. "In a way, I'm glad. My children have SOME hope for the future... and maybe THEIR children will, as well..."

They grew silent again as they reached the lake. Lesik lowered his huge head down for a draught while Michael refilled his canteen with the clear clean water. Lesik really wasn't that thirsty. He had drunk his fill earlier that day. He accompanied Michael mostly to satisfy his insatiable curiosity, which only left him with more questions. Questions he knew Michael wasn't ready or willing to answer, so he let the matter drop.

Michael heard and felt the ground shake from behind him. He knew that whoever was approaching was big! Perhaps bigger than Lesik!! He turned around just in time to see the gigantic foot bear down on him. He screamed as he dove out of the way just in time! He would've been squashed had he stayed right where he was!

"Oh! Sorry... Didn't see you there..." the giant olive green longneck said as he gazed down at Michael.

Michael was still reeling from his near death experience. "Yeah... You're lucky I'm still pretty quick on my feet!" he managed to say.

This newcomer longneck bent his head down to quench his own thirst from the lake. His eyes grew wide as he spat out the water he had gulped once he realized what he had just witnessed. He turned back to look in wide mouthed awe at the strange creature he had almost just squashed.

"Let me guess: You've never seen his kind before... Not surprising, since he and his mate are the only ones around at the moment..." Lesik said from beside him.

"Yeah, you that got ri..." the big longneck started to say, but his phrase was cut short as he faced Lesik.

There was a look of recognition on his face as he gazed at Lesik. Then it hit him: He had seen this longneck before.

"By the Great Beyond... Little Foot???" the longneck said.

Lesik's eyes grew wide. "Shorty???"

The big longneck smiled and chuckled. "Yes, Little Foot! It's me!"

Lesik grinned. "Well, well, well... Isn't THIS a surprise! And look at you!! You've grown to be almost as big as Doc!!"

"Doc?" Shorty asked in confusion.

"The Lone Dinosaur! You've heard of him, haven't you?"

Shorty pondered a moment. "Oh, yeah! Now that you mention it... Never actually met him, though... But I take it you have?"

"Yeah... Twice!"

Shorty chuckled. "You were always the lucky one! I guess that's why father loved you best..."

"Hey! He didn't love you any less than me. You know that!"

"Well, he certainly didn't show it... Not to ME, anyways..."

"You KNOW that's not true!"

"IS it?"

"Excuse me!" Michael, who had remained silent the whole time, finally interrupted. "Are you two brothers?"

"HALF brothers..." Shorty said. "I was adopted by Little Foot's father..."

"I see..." Michael said.

"What brings you here, if you don't mind me asking..."

"The same sleep story that brought YOU here, probably..."

"AHEM... I go by the name of 'Lesik' now... That was the name Bron gave me..."

"Really? Well, the herd started calling me 'Shirkan' as soon as I started getting bigger than most of them..."

Lesik smiled. "That's a nice name... Quite fitting, actually. You've turned out quite well..."

"Thanks." Shirkan said.

The more Michael heard Shirkan talk, the more familiar he sounded. That's when he realized that Shirkan sounded almost exactly like Martin Sheen. He had seen the movie "Apocalypse Now" when it came out in theatres, way back when. It was quite an innovative movie, for it's time! Although the subject matter of the film would've been traumatic to some, Michael didn't spend enough time in Vietnam to really be traumatized by the war; so he didn't mind seeing that movie. He actually thought it was pretty good! Well worth the money he paid for at the time to see it. His date, though, hid her face in his shoulder when the scene where the villagers slaughtered the cow; which was overlapped by Martin Sheen's character, Captain Willard, killing Marlon Brando's character, Colonel Kurtz, came on the screen. He could almost picture Shirkan saying "Every moment I stay in this room, I get weaker; while 'Charlie' squats in the bush, getting stronger". For some reason, that was his favourite line in the movie. _The Horror! The Horror!_

"SHORTY!" he suddenly heard from close by, which was what brought him out of his reverie.

It was Bron who, having seen his long lost adoptive son, came up to reunite with him. "It's so good to SEE you again!" the old longneck said as he shared a neck rub with him.

"Hi, Bron." Shirkan said.

"Oh, please! You can call me 'father'!"

"Even though you're really not my father?"

Bron sighed. "Well, I see your attitude hasn't changed. Are you still feeling bitter over the fact that I left the herd to join Lesik in The Great Valley?"

Shirkan simply glared at him and said nothing.

"By the Great Beyond, son! You KNOW why I left!!"

"Don't remind me!" Shirkan said bitterly.

"And if it weren't for that, I would've stayed! You KNOW that!! And someday, when you have children of your own, I'll be more than happy to visit them... along with the rest of the herd!"

"If and when you do, you'll find that a few things have changed since you left..."

"No doubt..."

"Did you know that they named me leader after you 'retired' from that job?"

"Good for you, son! GOOD FOR YOU!"

Shirkan nodded. "Thanks. Speaking of which, there are matters I must attend to... If you'll excuse me..." He said before he sauntered off.

There was an awkward silence between the three of them as Shirkan walked away. Michael finally broke it. "So... I take it you stopped being leader of his herd because of Lesik's children... your grandchildren?"

Bron nodded. "Yes. I wanted them to be with their grandfather. And 'I' wanted to watch them grow up. It was something that I regret not being able to do for Lesik, and I didn't want to do the same to my grandkids."

"And for the longest time, I hated you for that...Not being there when I needed you, I mean..." Lesik admitted.

"But we've settled that difference long ago..." Bron smiled.

Lesik smiled back as they shared the affectionate neck rub only a longneck father and son can have.

"In many ways, they're both the same!" Bron said to Michael. "Both rebels at heart..." Then he sighed. "BUT, with Shirkan, it's for all the wrong reasons..."

Michael nodded somberly. "I know the type..."

After a few more moment of silence, Michael gazed down at the two water containers he had in his hand. "I better bring these back to Bonnie before she starts worrying. Catch you guys later."

"See you, Myk'l!" Lesik said.

"Bye!" Bron said.

Michael waved back to them as he walked away, leaving the two longnecks to share some more father and son quality time.

* * *

Just before sunset, Michael and Bonnie took KITT up to the top of the stone wall. Bonnie said she wanted to look at it one more time to "make sure of something". Michael, being the good husband that he is, did as his wife asked. More longnecks were filing into the oasis. Michael figured the never ending caravan should stop by nightfall. A few longnecks shot the trio some curious looks as they walked past, but nothing more.

Bonnie took out the binoculars and panned the entire area with them. "Exactly as I thought!" she said after a few minutes.

"What?" Michael asked curiously.

"At first, I thought this place was an old extinct volcano; but now I know for sure. THIS is an impact crater!" she announced.

"You mean from a meteorite?"

Bonnie nodded, then put the binoculars back up to her eyes to do some more gazing. "And it's fairly recent, too, by geological standards... I'd say about a couple hundred years old, at the most..."

Michael nodded. "Maybe..." Then he motioned for the binoculars, which Bonnie handed to him. "Look at 'em all!!" Michael commented as he gazed all around the oasis. "There must be thousands of longnecks down there!"

WHOO WHOOO. "Five thousand four hundred and thirty three at the moment, and the number is increasing..." KITT said. The continuous influx of longnecks all around them was certainly a testament to that.

Michael looked irritated. "And I suppose you took your time in counting them all?" he said sarcastically.

WHOO WHOOO. "Actually, it didn't take that long... I couldn't resist..."

"Yeah! Sure, buddy!"

"Excuse me..." A decidedly female voice said from their left. "Could you tell me where I could find a longneck named Little Foot... and perhaps his father Bron, if he's here..." The voice belonged to a large light brown elderly female longneck.

"Sure! Just straight ahead, on this side of the lake..." Bonnie directed.

"Thank you... I take it your friends of his?" she asked.

Michael was in wide mouthed awe at the sheer size of this longneck. "That's right..." he said as he recovered his speech.

"Well... I'll leave it up to him to tell me who you are... WHAT you are... and why you're here... My name is Sue, by the way..."

"Nice to meet you..." Bonnie said.

Sue nodded in acknowledgment. "Well, perhaps we'll see each other again later..." she said as she lumbered off, her footfalls echoing through the ground.

Michael shared a quick glance with Bonnie before going back to viewing the oasis down below. Then he caught sight of something that made him laugh. "Look down there!" Michael said as he pointed, handing the binoculars back to Bonnie. "Looks like all of the Great Valley children are playing tag... Even Slooper and Bitey are joining in on the fun!"

Bonnie giggled as she observed the scene. "And Ruby and Sergiak are watching over them..." she sighed as she lowered the binoculars. "Poor Ruby..."

"What do you mean 'poor Ruby'?" Michael asked.

"I mean... she's finding some comfort in looking after the Great Valley children, but she deeply regrets not being able to have children of her own..."

"What makes you say that? She doesn't seem to be bothered by it. She said so herself..."

"She IS deeply bothered by it... I can see it in her eyes..."

"How can you tell?"

"A woman knows these things, Michael..." She sighed. "I just wish that there was something we could do..."

"Me, too..." Michael said as he moved in to comfort her. He sadly kissed the top of her head. "Come on! Let's head back to camp before it gets too dark..."

With this, they got back inside KITT and headed back down the slope into the oasis, and to their camp where they will soon after go to sleep inside their tent.


	9. Chapter 9 Event Horizon

**CHAPTER 9**

**EVENT HORIZON**

That night, that familiar sleep story took place again, and Michael and Bonnie were right in the middle of it! They found themselves on the top of the rocky slope that bordered the stone wall. They saw they were surrounded by longnecks as far as the eye could see. Matter of fact, they all lined up all around the top of the slope! There were literally thousands of them!!

Then the sky suddenly grew dark with clouds! The clouds eventually blocked the sun completely. It then got so dark, it was almost as dark as night time! Then they saw something really strange: All of the longnecks around them closed their eyes, then they started to levitate! After they reached roughly ten feet in the air, they stopped levitating, and just floated there.

Then they heard the familiar drone of KITT's engine towards their left. He, too, was levitating in mid air! When he got to the same height as the longnecks, he stopped levitating; and just floated there alongside them.

"What's happening, KITT?" Michael heard himself say as he held an obviously frightened Bonnie in his left arm.

"It's the event horizonononononnnn...." KITT's voice echoed everywhere.

"Is it the end, Michael?" he heard Bonnie say beside him.

He looked over to her, and saw that she was young again. Almost as young as the day he met her! Back when he first started working for the Foundation. He didn't know it, but Bonnie also saw him as a young man. In her eyes, he looked almost thirty five years younger than he really was!

When they looked up again, they saw that all of the longnecks were generating a yellow beam of light towards the cloudy sky. KITT was also generating his own beam of light! All of the beams converged twenty feet away from them to form one gigantic ray of light that touched the cloudy sky. That ray of light suddenly made the cloudy sky dissipate!

Then several meteorites erupted from the cloud mass and streaked across the sky. Michael and Bonnie could hear the sound they made as they hissed across the sky above them, headed East beyond the stone circle. Then the sky became clear again as the beam of light finally melted away the cloud cover!

Then they saw that all of the longnecks were gone. Only KITT remained. The steady drone of his engine echoed everywhere as he slowly floated back down to the rocky ground.

Then a terrifying shadow fell across them as something in the sky was blocking off the sun's rays. They saw a giant asteroid hurtling towards them.

"What's that, KITT!?" Michael terrifying hollow sounding voice said.

"It's the Big Onenenenene..." KITT's voice echoed.

Both Michael and Bonnie lay themselves flat on the rocky ground as the giant black fiery rock passed just a few feet over their heads and headed for a crash landing right in the middle of the stone circle oasis. It sent up a huge black dust cloud as it impacted the ground.

Michael and Bonnie then turned back around to face the outside of the stone circle where they saw another strange sight. All of their dinosaur friends and their children were standing in front of a portal of blue light that looked strangely like the time vortex generated by Dr. Anders' time travel machine. They were all looking back at them. After a few moments, they then turned to walk through the portal and disappear inside.

"Where are you all going!?" Michael shouted at them, but none of them answered.

They turned back around to see the shock wave of the asteroid impact speed towards them. They braced themselves for the impact of the wave. KITT's WHOO WHOOO sound could be heard just before the shock wave hit them and blew them off the side of the slope, including KITT.

Michael woke with a start. He just lied there in his sleeping bag and sighed in relief that it was only a dream. He looked over towards Bonnie. It was still night, but the light of the shining moon at least allowed him to see somewhat in the dark. He could see that Bonnie was as wide awake as he was. She glanced sidelong at him.

"Same dream?" he asked her.

"I think so... Event horizon? Asteroid?"

Michael nodded. "Yeah."

"Hope we find out eventually what it all means..." Bonnie said.

"We'll worry about that tomorrow..." Michael said as he rolled over in his sleeping bag and fell asleep again shortly after. Bonnie did the same.

* * *

The next morning, Michael and Bonnie woke shortly after dawn.

While Michael was heating up some water in a coffee pot using the propane grill he brought with him, he saw that the big longneck Shirkan was grazing nearby. He thought to himself how he could make this big stubborn oaf reconcile his differences with Lesik and Bron. Then he got an idea.

He moved over to KITT, opened the driver's side door and punched a few buttons on his dashboard console. Soon after, the melodies of a particular song could be heard loud and clear. He had a plan, and he knew this song would fit in quite nicely with his intentions.

_I got the call today that I didn't wanna hear_

_But I knew that it would come_

_And old true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone_

_She said you found someone_

_Then I thought of all the bad luck and the struggles we went through_

_How I lost me and you lost you_

_What are these voices outside love's open door_

_Make us throw out our contentment and beg for something more_

Shirkan looked in Michael's direction curiously. Michael waved when he saw he was looking straight at him. "It's just music!" Michael shouted at him with a smile. "You don't mind, do you?"

Shirkan simply humpfed and went back to grazing.

_I'm learning to live without you now_

_But I miss you sometimes_

_The more I know the less I understand_

_The things I thought I knew I'm learning again_

_I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter_

_But my will gets weak_

_And my thoughts seem to scatter but I think it's about_

_Forgiveness! Forgiveness!_

_Even if, even if you don't love me anymore_

_These times are so uncertain_

_There's a yearning undefined_

_And people filled with rage_

_We all need a little tenderness_

_How can love survive in such a graceless age?_

_Trust and self assurance that lead to happiness_

_They're the very things that we kill, I guess_

_Pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms_

_And the work they put between us, you know it doesn't keep me warm_

_I'm learning to live without you now_

_But I miss you baby!_

_There more I know, the less I understand_

_The things I thought I knew I have to learn again_

Shirkan noticed Lesik and Bron over by the river quenching their morning thirst. He didn't quite know why, or how, but Shirkan felt compelled to go talk to the two males who were, deep down, a part of his family; and an important part of his life.

_I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter_

_But... everything changes_

_And my heart is so shattered but I think it's about forgiveness, forgiveness_

_Even if, even if you don't love me anymore_

_There are people in your life who've come and gone_

_They let you down! You know, they hurt your pride_

_You better put it all behind you, baby! 'Cause life goes on_

_If you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside, baby!_

Michael watched the three male longnecks talk amongst themselves. He held his breath the whole time, anxious at the outcome of this tense, REAL family reunion.

He saw Bron move in to embrace Shirkan in the longneck fashion as he was visibly sobbing and in tears. Over the din of the music, he could hear Shirkan cry out "I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY!!"

He could see Bron mouth the words "It's okay..." as he was comforting his adoptive son. Lesik did the same with moist eyes.

_I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter_

_But my will gets weak_

_And my thoughts seem to scatter when I think it's about_

_Foregiveness! Foregiveness!_

_Even if, even if you don't love me_

_I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter_

_But the flesh and will get weak_

_And the ashes will scatter, but I'm thinkin' about_

_Foregiveness! Foregiveness!_

_Even if, even if you don't love me anymore_

_Foregiveness, foregiveness, foregiveness, foregiveness, foregiveness..._

Michael's eyes grew moist themselves! The desired effect of one of Don Henley's more famous songs was more than what he expected.

Bonnie then emerged from the forest carrying a basket full of fruits she had gathered for their breakfast. She came up next to Michael and followed his gaze towards the edge of the lake where Lesik, Bron and Shirkan were now sharing a drink of water. "What?" she asked in puzzlement.

"Oh! Just enjoying the beautiful morning!" Michael smiled as he wrapped his arm around his wife.

They both walked back to the tent to set up the picnic blanket and have their breakfast. "Were you playing 'Heart Of The Matter'?" Bonnie asked Michael.

Michael nodded. "I was..."

* * *

Later on that morning, most of Lesik's herd were gathered around the far edge of the lake chatting about various things. Then Petrie just happened to look up at the sky. His eyes went wide as he pointed. "LOOK!"

All of the longnecks who heard his cry all looked to where he was pointing. A small dark convex shaped wedge appeared to block out the sun. Little by little, all of the longnecks looked up to see this occurrence. "It's beginning..." a lot of them muttered as they sprung into action. They started moving towards the rock slope and began to climb up to the top.

Almost in a trance, Lesik's herd began to move towards the rock slope themselves. Michael and Bonnie put on their sunglasses to gain a better look at what was happening.

"Do you see that, Bonnie!?" Michael exclaimed.

"Incredible!" Bonnie commented.

"What is that!?" Cera asked with a hint of fear in her voice. "What's happening, Myk'l!?"

"It's a solar eclipse..." Michael said in awe.

"A WHAT!!?"

"I'll explain later! I think we're about to find out the purpose of this longneck migration... Come on!" Michael said as he moved to follow the longnecks.

"It's as if the bright circle is being eaten by a large dark shadow." Chomper said. "Are the longnecks here to keep the bright circle from being eaten?"

Nobody answered him, though. They were too preoccupied with observing this grand phenomenon.

Once the longnecks were all in place on the top of the rock slope, they all closed their eyes as if to focus their combined energy. The non longnecks were all watching this occur with a mix of awe and confusion. Meanwhile, the convex shaped wedge grew steadily bigger and bigger; and the landscape grew darker and darker as the sun began to disappear behind the increasing shadow.

Then, almost all at once, the longnecks stood on the balls of their feet as if to increase their energy output. KITT himself tried to imitate them by jacking up his wheels. Michael and Bonnie observed this and chuckled. They didn't even recall giving KITT that ability, but they thought it was cure nonetheless!

Then, when the bright circle was replaced by a dark circle, and it was almost as dark as night, all of the longnecks stood on the very tips of their toes. KITT jacked his wheels up to the maximum. Meanwhile, a large meteor shower could be seen as several fireballs streaked across the sky in every direction. All of the non longnecks looked at this with great fear, as if the world was about to end; while Michael and Bonnie remained undeterred. They just smiled as they observe these two great celestial occurrences.

When the dark circle began to disappear, and the bright circle re emerged, all of the longnecks came down from their tiptoed position and slowly opened their eyes. KITT brought his suspension back down to it's regular height as well.

"Wow! THAT was amazing!!" Michael commented as he looked at Bonnie, who smiled and nodded her agreement.

"Now that I think about it..." Cera began. "I remember seeing this kind of thing before."

"Now that you are remembering, what is it that you have remembered, Cera?" Ruby asked.

"I've followed Little Foot here once before when I was a young threehorn, and I saw this kind of thing back then, too... Looks like the longnecks saved the world... AGAIN..."

Alaina and Petrie also nodded as they remembered as well! This was news, however, to Ruby, Chomper and their respective mates. Wendyk was also curious to know about this other great longneck migration. Cera was only too happy to tell everyone about it. Michael and Bonnie were especially astonished that there was another solar eclipse on this exact same spot not a decade ago!


	10. Chapter 10 Back To The Future

**CHAPTER 10**

**BACK TO THE FUTURE**

That afternoon, a lot of the longnecks were leaving to return home. Lesik announced to his herd that they would soon be leaving as well.

He and Bron were gathered in a clearing to say their farewells to Shirkan.

"It pleases me greatly that you've finally seen the error of your ways, Shirkan..." Bron said. "That was a very brave thing you did, and I'm proud of you!" he smiled.

"Well..." Shirkan began as he pawed the ground in embarrassment. "Something told me I had to... clear the air... with this..."

Lesik laughed. "And 'cleared the air' you did... to the point of tears..."

"Just don't tell anybody, okay?" Shirkan insisted.

"Don't worry! My lips are sealed..." Lesik smiled.

"Thanks, brother!" Shirkan smiled back.

Then they shared a warm embrace between them.

Shirkan then faced the male longneck he called 'father' for most of his life.

"I promise I'll come and visit as soon as I can... I may even convince Lesik to come with me..." Bron said.

Lesik chuckled. "If I go, I'll go willingly..."

Shirkan laughed at this. "I'd like that."

Then they shared that loving father and son embrace. "I love you, son!" Bron said.

"I love you, too, dad!" Shirkan reciprocated.

Bron was surprised a bit at hearing his adoptive son call him 'dad', but didn't allow himself to relinquish the long embrace he shared with the male longneck he had looked after as he would've looked after Lesik.

"I gotta go. The herd's waiting for me..." Shirkan said with moist eyes and a sniffle as he finally relinquished the embrace.

"Safe journey!" Bron called as Shirkan walked away to join his herd.

"Bye!" Shirkan called back.

Both males watched Shirkan walk away. When he reached his herd, they all parted way to allow him to march to the front and lead them out of the stone circle towards home.

* * *

Meanwhile, Michael and Bonnie were taking down their camp and packing everything inside KITT's trunk.

"Michael! Bonnie!" KITT said to get their attention.

"Yeah, KITT?" Michael said.

"I was waiting for the right moment to say this, as I don't want anyone else to know... Might as well tell you now, while we're alone..."

Michael and Bonnie looked at each other. They knew that KITT was being serious, and that the news probably wouldn't be too good.

"What is it, KITT?" Michael said as he got into the driver's seat. Bonnie took her place on the passenger's side.

"I've noticed something during my scan of the solar eclipse, and I found something disturbing... Michael, Bonnie, I don't think that was the moon that passed in front of the sun."

Michael and Bonnie looked worried. "What makes you say that, KITT?" Bonnie asked.

"Observe..." KITT said as he showed zoomed in replay of the solar eclipse on his dashboard monitor. "As you can see, it's not a perfect spherical shape; and I've also detected what looked like micro meteorite impacts on the large dark mass..."

Indeed, they could see bumps and ridges on the very edge of the object. It was definitely NOT the moon! The micro meteorite impacts on the surface of it made it even more sinister.

"If that wasn't the moon, KITT. What else could it've been?" Michael asked.

"The obvious conclusion was that it was an orbiting asteroid... possibly The Big One..." KITT announced.

"The Big One!!?" Bonnie said in surprise.

"Yes! It could very well be the very asteroid that will impact the earth and essentially wipe out all dinosaur life..."

"You can't be serious!" Michael exclaimed.

"Believe me, Michael! I wish I weren't... I've also calculated its orbital trajectory based on data I've compiled during its pass in front of the sun..."

KITT then displayed a graph on his monitor that showed the path of the asteroid in conjunction with the orbital path of the Earth. On the lower right hand side, he depicted a countdown of the years from that period in time, showing an intersection point at the end of the graph.

Michael and Bonnie were stunned for a few moments, then Michael spoke up. "KITT... if your calculations are correct... that asteroid's gonna impact the Earth in... forty years from now, by the Gregorian calendar..."

"That's within the lifetime of most of them, and ALL of their children!" Bonnie exclaimed. "In forty years, they'll all be DEAD."

Bonnie then grew deeply sad. She was to the point of tears. Michael immediately moved in to comfort her.

"Michael..." she sobbed. "They're all such nice dinos... Why do they have to die? Why do they have to suffer this fate!?"

"Honey!" Michael comforted. "You know full well that in order for our kind to evolve on this planet, the dinosaurs have to DIE... It's part of the circle of life... Understand?"

Bonnie eventually nodded. "I just wish that there was something that we could do..."

"Yeah... Me, too..." Michael said as he kissed her on the forehead and continued comforting her until she stopped crying.

* * *

A short time later, the entire herd was marching out of the stone circle and were heading back to The Great Valley. KITT took his place behind Lesik and his family, and was trudging along slowly behind the big longnecks.

Michael felt compelled to play a song that expressed his mood. He didn't play it too loudly. He didn't want it to be picked up by the sensitive ears of the longnecks.

_This is the end... beautiful friend_

_This is the end... my only friend! The end!_

_Of our elaborate plans, the end_

_Of everything that stands, the end_

_No safety or surprise, the end_

_I'll never look into your eyes... again..._

_Can you picture what will be_

_So limitless and free_

_Desperately in need... of some stranger's hand_

_In a... desperate land...._

_Lost in a Roman... wilderness of pain..._

_And all of the children are insane..._

_All the children are insane...._

Michael always thought that this song by The Doors was probably one of their darkest hits. It came out just as the Vietnam War was starting, and it was also the featured intro song to Apocalypse Now. Michael was always struck by the lyrics of the song, which basically recaps, in a nutshell, what the Vietnam experience was like. Although he didn't stay there long enough to really be affected by it, he had many friends who came back from there totally changed. They were never the same again!

Michael also felt it reflected he and Bonnie's current mood given the bombshell KITT just dropped on them a short while ago. They held each other blankly as the song played over KITT's car speakers.

* * *

They would reach The Great Valley two days later. Trixia and Korkum reached them as soon as they arrived at the border of the valley. They told Lesik that "strange blue circle of light" had appeared in a clearing in the valley yesterday, and his been there ever since. They also said they were quite puzzled by it.

"The time vortex!" Michael immediately said in recognition. "My god! Has it been a week already!!? Time flies when you're having fun!" Michael smiled to Bonnie.

"I take it you're going to be leaving right away?" Lesik said as he bent his head down to face them.

"As much as we'd love to stay for one more day, we HAVE to!" Michael said. "We were due back yesterday, and our human friends on the other side are waiting for us... They're probably very worried by now..."

Lesik nodded. "Understood..."

* * *

A short time later, all of the dinos who were close friends of Michael, Bonnie and KITT were gathered in front of the time vortex to see them off. Plenty of hugs and well wishes were exchanged between them.

Lesik was the last to say his goodbyes to them. "I'm curious, though..."

WHOO WHOOO. "That always seems to be a recurring theme with you..." KITT said with a hint of annoyance.

Lesik just chuckled. "It's my nature! Anyway, that song you were playing when we left the stone circle... the one that spoke about some kind of an 'end'... It sounded pretty sad..."

Michael shared a glance with Bonnie. "Can't hide nothing past those sensitive earholes of yours, can we? Yeah... it IS a pretty sad song..."

"Does it hold any special meaning to both of you?" Lesik asked.

Michael shrugged. "No..." he lied. "Except maybe... to evoke the sadness of us leaving The Great Valley: We kinda fell like home here!"

"Nobody said you couldn't stay..." Lesik suggested.

Michael said. "Thanks for the offer, but we can't stay... We belong in the human world with our human friends... Besides, where would KITT find the gasoline he needs out here?"

WHOO WHOOO. "Especially the premium brand that allows me to show off, now and again..."

"Okay! That's it!! A steady diet of unleaded for you, from now on!" Michael teased.

"Please, Michael! ANYTHING BUT THAT! I'LL BE GOOD!! I PROMISE!!"

Everybody laughed at this banter between them.

Then Lesik allowed the two humans to give him a warm farewell. "Goodbye, my hyoo mahn friends! I'll miss you!"

"We'll miss you too, Lesik!" Bonnie said with a shaky voice. She was to the point of tears, but she managed to hold them back.

Lesik noticed this. "Why do I get the feeling that this may be the last time we'll see each other... You DO plan on coming back, do you? If your friend's time travel mah-sheen is as you've described, one would think you'd have all the time in the world..."

"It's hard to say, Lesik! It's hard to say... Maybe... Maybe not..." Michael admitted.

Lesik brought his face close to Michael. "Myk'l... If you know something, please tell me... Is it about our future? About what is to become? Is something bad going to happen?"

Michael sighed inwardly. _He's got no idea how prophetic that statement is! _He thought to himself. Bonnie shared his discomfort.

"We have another expression: Some things are better left unsaid..." Michael simply said.

Lesik nodded. "Well, whatever is bound to happen, I will accept it as such... even if it means that some of us have to die... Such is the great circle of life... I just hope that my children won't be part of this fate... Not while they still have their entire lives ahead of them..." he said as he glanced back at them a short ways away. They were play fighting at their mother's feet.

Bonnie got into KITT's passenger seat. She felt that if she stood there any longer, she was going to start crying, and that would only make things worse.

Michael said one final goodbye as he got in to KITT's driver seat. He then had KITT back up at the appropriate distance to reach the right speed before crossing through the vortex. "Let's go home, KITT..." Michael said softly as he pressed on the accelerator after they were backed up fully. All of the assembled waved or cried out "goodbye!" as KITT crossed through the vortex and disappeared. The opening closed as soon as he went through. Then life returned to normal in The Great Valley.

* * *

In the warehouse back in Malibu, California, Dr. Anders was monitoring his time travel machine from his computer console. He had reopened for vortex yesterday morning, and was anxiously waiting for his friends to emerge from it. He grew increasingly worried as time wore on. At one point, he feared the worst! He figured he'd leave the porthole open for a few more days, and simply close it if they did not reappear. He would then accept their unfortunate demise, and make it a point to tell whatever friends and family they had left.

A brilliant flash of light made him squint. He looked up and saw KITT skid to a halt sixty feet away from him. He smiled brightly. "Welcome back! You were due back yesterday! We were getting worried!! What took you guys so long!?"

* * *

That evening, after dinner, they were all sitting in Dr. Anders' and his wife's living room sharing cocktails from the mini bar and talking mostly about the recent adventure Michael and Bonnie had. David Anders and his wife Caroline were quite fascinated as Michael and Bonnie told them about everything that happened and how they were treated by the dinosaurs of The Great Valley. "Wow! Sounds like you had a lot of fun!!" Caroline commented.

"We did!" Bonnie replied.

Then they described what KITT had discovered, then the mood changed. Everybody felt sad at the notion that all of the friendly dinos of The Great Valley are destined to die as a result of the giant asteroid that will crash into the Earth forty years from that point in time.

"That's so terrible!" Caroline said sadly. "Oh, Davey! I really wish that there was something we could do!!" she whined to her husband.

David was pensive for a few moment, then his eyes lit up. "Maybe there is..."

Everyone looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?" Bonnie asked.

"I have a younger brother who's a zoologist and an amateur archaeologist... I'm sure he'd JUMP at the chance at saving these dinos!"

"How!?" Michael asked.

"There an old abandoned military base not far from here... It's got a giant aircraft hanger that's mostly intact. With my brother's help, he could convert it to an arboretum that's best suited for these dinos. With his knowledge of animals, I'm sure it'll be a SNAP!"

"Do you think Ralph'll go for this, Davey?" Caroline asked.

"I'm SURE he will, honey!" Davey reassured.

"Okay... assuming your brother goes along with this, Davey... How soon can this arboretum be ready?"

"I figure two years... maybe three, at the most... What do you say?"

Michael looked towards Bonnie.

"I think it's worth it..." Bonnie said with a smile. "That way, our dinosaur friends and their children don't have to die tragically in that asteroid impact. They can live out their natural lives in that controlled environment! They can have some kind of FUTURE, at least! I say: LET'S DO IT!"

"ALL RIGHT!" David exclaimed happily. "I'll call my brother tomorrow... I can't wait to hear how he'll react to THIS..."

"And we can also help Ruby!" Bonnie exclaimed. "We have numerous advances in medicine that allows infertile women to conceive: in vitro fertilization, DNA splicing... controlled cloning... She can finally have those children she's been wanting for so long!"

David smiled. "Hey! My brother's breeded rare and endangered species most of his life! Why not a dinosaur!?"

"Great!" Michael said. "So you and your brother take all of the time you need to get this arboretum ready; and when the time comes, we'll use the time machine to bring the dinos over..."

Everyone squealed with delight at this.

"... and what's even better, Davey: You'll finally get to meet them!"

David stopped laughing and glared at Michael with eyes that betrayed shock.


End file.
